Ethnography for Philly CHI

NATALIE HANSON, PhD
Senior Director, Strategic Programs & UX Consulting, SAP Operations
Industry Fellow, Philadelphia University College of Design, Engineering, & Commerce
20 April 2011

About Me
Research Areas

AB in Religion & MA Whole MA, PhD
Biblical Literature Systems Design Anthropology

© 2011 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 4

About Me
Online

http://nataliehanson.wordpress.com

http://www.anthrodesign.com

http://www.nataliehanson.com

http://www,anthrodesign.com

About SAP
The Facts


About SAP
What is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)?


What is User-Centered Design?

Useful and elegant: Delivering
the simple solution business value:
which helps the user does it make the
complete their user more
task. productive, the
company more
profitable?

!

What is technically possible, easily supported,
and compatible with the existing landscape?

User Experience - Mapped to the Project Lifecycle

PLAN BUILD RUN
• Deliver insights on targeted people & • Engage with the project team regularly to • Guide and support change management
processes based on prior or new research ensure end-user needs are considered in and deployment activities
decision-making and prioritization
BENEFITS

• Support prioritization of business & technical • Measure the current state
requirements from an end-user point-of-view • Deliver user research - as well as User
• Support and assist in the prioritization of
Experience Strategy and best practices - to
• Create early high fidelity vision prototypes continuous improvement efforts
maximize ROI though high user adoption
based on user research (voice of the
customer) and best practices • Leverage UX expertise to deliver compelling,
intuitive, expert interface design
• Measure the current state
• Test the planned release with end-users to
• Ensure inclusion of UX services in the
ensure streamlined task completion, usability
remainder of the project
and minimize errors prior to investing in build
activities
SERVICES


User Experience – Service Catalog – Overview

UX Strategy UX Research UX Design Outside-In Research

 Online Strategy  User Surveys  Navigation Design  Expert Review
 User Value Scenarios  User Interviews  User Interface Design  Outside-In Review
 User Experience  Day in the Life /  Visual Design
Analytics Shadowing
 Data Visualization
 Usability Testing
 Process Benchmarking


User Experience – Service Catalog – Detail
User User Day in the Life /
Surveys Interviews Shadowing
VALUE PROPOSITION: VALUE PROPOSITON: VALUE PROPOSITION:
Quick, repeatable, non-intrusive way of In-depth understanding of users‟ paint In-depth understanding of the day-to-day
understanding the pain points, habits and points and the factors that affect their use activities of a group of users. It helps to
preferences of large numbers of users of tools and systems. Critical for validating ensure that systems and processes will
across sites. business requirements. support how users work and increase
their productivity.
WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT?
An online survey is designed and By talking with users directly we gather in- WHAT IS IT?
delivered to get statistically reliable data depth information about user needs in The typical activity is shadowing a user
about a user population. Often used to their own words, how they are using an for 1-2 days, with minimal interference in
supplement methodologies, and /or application or website, and what value day-to-day activities.
establish a baseline of understanding. they derive from it.
DELIVERABLES:
DELIVERABLES: DELIVERABLES: The Ethnography Report with detail
The User Survey Report summarizes The User Interview Report summarizes findings on work practices and tools and
quantitative and qualitative trends derived the users‟ needs and priorities, suggests includes recommendations on how to act
from the data collected. Results can be design ideas, and presents factors that on what was discovered.
segmented by region, type of user, etc. could affect acceptance and efficiency.

Average Duration:6 weeks Average Duration:4-6 weeks Average Duration:6-7 months
15 Person Days; 1 Resource 20-35 Person Days; 2 Resources 150+ Person Days; 2+ Resources


WHAT is Field Research?

Solution Focused

UX Design

Expert Review
40 PDs

Usability Testing Quantitative
Qualitative 100 PDs

Shadowing
300 PDs

Interviews
8-16 PDs
Survey
10 PDs
Analysis Focused
Size indicates relative effort

Visual courtesy of S. Kirsten Gay


WHAT is Field Research? Some background …
 The term ethnography comes from the field of Anthropology, and literally means writing about groups of
people. Social scientists would immerse themselves in a culture and write a „thick description‟ of that
experience. Ethnography is the deliverable …

 Participant observation is the traditional name for the method. The term „ethnographic methods‟ has also
come into common use. The research required learning a foreign language, understanding power structures,
kinship patterns, social mores, food habits, etc. Truly experiencing the full cycle of that unfamiliar culture (if
you think harvest to harvest, for example) could take a year or more. This is part of the reason that today
people think of this type of research as being long and expensive.

 In reality, good participant observation is about not just observing, but actually engaging, being affected, and
learning from that immersion and how it might challenge your own behaviors and assumptions. It can be
inherently uncomfortable, and it should ideally generate self-reflection (which ultimately makes a stronger
analysis and deeper insights).

 A fully trained PhD-level anthropologist has usually been exposed the four sub-disciplines, which are
Biology/Genetics, Culture, Linguistics, and Archaeology. All of those ways of understanding people –
combined with liberal borrowing from other social sciences like economics, political science and psychology –
provide a powerful perspective on human behavior. Anthropologists trained at the MA level, often have less
knowledge of the subfields and theory, but more formal methods training.

 Early anthropologists served the interests of colonizing forces, which is part of the reason there is such a high
sensitivity in the field to public availability of findings, protection of human subjects, and so on. Anthropologists
have been working in the business context since the 1920s. However, due to the concerns about co-optation,
applied anthropology is a „fifth sub-discipline‟ within Anthropology – and sometimes a rejected one.

 In brief, it‟s not just about what happens with a device or in a certain type of transaction, which might be well
suited to a lab study. This type of research is about understanding the context of interaction or decision-
making – including what is influencing the person, their behavior, and their environment.

WHAT is Field Research?

“.. [J]ust as medical diagnosis is not just talking with
patients, so ethnographic fieldwork is not just talking
with people in the workplace … It may be
overstating the case, but we like to tell our
managers that competent ethnographic work is only
5% visible fieldwork versus 95% preparation,
analysis, synthesis, and communication, most of
which are invisible to outsiders.”
Jordan and Dalal, Field Methods, 2006


WHAT is Field Research, and WHEN should you use it?

DEFINITION

 Takes place in the natural setting rather than in a laboratory
 Engaged observations – usually in combination with interviews – is the primary means for collecting data
 The research questions are exploratory, open-ended
 The data is rich, complex, likely even messy! … and require time to „unpack‟ and analyze
 The work is ultimately about making meaning of what is observed, not just collecting and synthesizing data
 Insights can then be applied to a wide range of business, technical, or social problems

SOME CONSIDERATIONS

 Can be leveraged at any point in the product / project lifecycle (more on that shortly)
 Some examples from Intel, Microsoft, Pitney Bowes, SAP
 Is especially powerful when used in conjunction with participatory design methods
 Get your sponsor to the field!
 Get members of your project team to the field – or at least to an analysis session!
 It can be a challenge not to get lost in the findings … make time for dialogue and stay focused on clear
outcomes


WHEN should you use it?
A product / project lifecycle perspective

PLAN OBSERVE VALIDATE TEST
 Identify new market  Engage with users in their  Determine whether  Evaluate product
opportunities (white natural setting proposed solution experience and fit
space) solves the „unmet in situ
 Determine the current need‟
 Explore key target usage of existing products  Ensure solution
groups & solutions  Assess whether the aligns with
solution fit will secure business and user
 Identify alternative or  Assess self-reported requirements
intended goals
competitive solutions behavior relative to
and / or clarify feature observed behavior
gaps


A CIO perspective
• In an external study of 5325 end-users, 200 project sponsors &
41M managers, low end-user adoption was identified as the single most
Value important factor for achieving project ROI (CIO Executive Board,
Leakage 2008).
• For a 100M € investment with an expected 15% return, a full 36% (41M
€) of that return was not realized, 19% (22M €) of which was due to low
end-user adoption.
100M 115M 74 M
• Key areas where the UX team can support improvements to end-user
adoption include:
• Business case development
• Prioritization of key functionality
• Business process & UI design
• User testing
IT Portfolio Expected Realized
Investment Return Return


A market-focused perspective
“
“ A customer insight is a fresh and not-yet obvious understanding of
customer beliefs, values, habits, desires, motives, emotions or needs that
can become the basis for a competitive advantage.

From Research that Produces Customer Insights, by Mohan Sawhney, 2003


HOW do we do it?

W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W 10 W 11 W 12 W 13 W 14 W 15
Customer

Recruit &
Define Schedule
Participants Participants
 Short Long
 Work-
 Work-

User Experience |

shop shop
Conduct
Findings /
Build & validate observation Write Feasibility
protocol Conduct observations Analyze findings reportWorkshop

  (UCD w
KMCC Customer)

Engage &
Communicate
With
participants Deliverables:
Insights & Implications Report
Presentation

Deliverables: Deliverables: Deliverables: Deliverables: Deliverables:
Identify Users Screening Criteria Digital Recordings/ Field Analysis Vision
Initial Communications Self-Reporting Kit Photographs/ Video Lightly structured Findings Sketches
Field Notes


HOW do we do it?

PLAN / RECRUIT
 Ensure customer is clear about the benefits / trade-offs of using ethnographic methods
 Set expectations regarding research duration, roles & responsibilities
 Ask customer to identify target users, deliver initial communication, and recruit users (where appropriate)
RESEARCH
 Start prepared - get to know the research domain beforehand
 Strive for open-ended, exploratory questions – what tools, what processes, what relationships are important
 Anticipate time to build rapport and allow for spontanaeity!
 Work in teams of 2-3 if possible (ideally one investigator, one note-taker, one videographer)
 Take prolific notes, discuss and analyze along the way – and engage across research teams where possible
 Bring your customer or research sponsor along if possible!
 Keep your final report in mind, while respecting the privacy of your research subjects

ANALYZE / DISCUSS
 Commit the time to document, catalog, transcribe, organize as much as possible
 Actively share findings across research teams
 Engage project team members (including the customer) as early as possible in discovery, discussion, analysis, implications
 Conceptualize ways to visualize key insights while the field experience and research data is fresh

REPORT / PRESENT
 Impart a sense of curiosity and sensibility to your customers and/or sponsor
 Remember that business priorities may vary significantly from user priorities … and keep both in mind
 Challenge the team to identify the core messages, and prepare an executive briefing document
FOLLOW UP
 Stay engaged with your client to help them make sense of the findings
 Avail yourself to interpret existing findings for emerging situations


RESULTS
What did we find out?

Task 7

Task 6 Task 8
Based on
3% 9% ethnographic
Task 1
Task 5
6% observation
11%
of five
21%
salespeople
on two of their
23%
days in the
office
28%
4%
Task 4
Task 2

Task 3

You can learn more about this study at http://www.nataliehanson.com/present-EPIC-2008.html
This research report was written in collaboration with the team at Learning Worlds in NYC

RESULTS
Typical browser homepage for salespeople

UX Services Timeline - Salespeople
Dashboard view of
user feedback on
Pie chart of Industry GTM Pages
outcomes from Team synthesizes
shadowing findings into Team provides KPIs
salespeople hypothetical for key sales
calendar, based processes map
on shadowing

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Launch

Ethnography UI Design User Interviews User Research
Usability Testing Benchmarking Usability Testing 7 AEs Sales Connect UI Design
8 AEs Industry Pages 4 AEs NNG Usability (PBG) 9 AEs For PCN Industries
Industries (Global) Industries

User Survey
User Interviews User Personas
31 AEs
3 AEs User Research Field Enablement
Usability Testing Solutions 4 AEs
7 AEs Public Sector Survey
Expert Review Ethnography
Launch Expert Review
Collaboration 8 AEs Clearvision 360
UI Design Workspace
Solutions

User Interviews Benchmarking Usability Testing
NA AE Foundation 12 AEs 15 AEs
Vision ClearVision
UI Design
Market Opportunities
CORE Pages Design
Launch Expert Review
UI Design Sales Management
Information Architecture Dashboard
Workshop

Activities led by UX Design Activities led by UX Research


A Week in the Life of a salesperson

KEY
Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Task 4

Task 5

Task 6

Task 7


Insights from shadowing can inform …

As-is versus the ideal processes

Mental models for UI design

Persona development

… and the real tool landscape
Lean Messaging
w Cooper Design

Directions for future research
IA recommendations User requirements


Dashboard Layout & Design
Insights provided to The proposed layout uses research findings to
Customer Dashboard create meaningful, compelling and desirable
Shadowing to understand how people work
project team for content interfaces.
and interface
Visualize results recommendations. Recommend optimal layout
Shadow
salespeople
Tool preferences inform
which information is
appropriate to display

How people think about tools

AE at work waiting for screen to load Prototype developed
with his notebook, on a customer call
Day-to-day activates
Analyze notes and informs adjacency of
recordings information on the page

Sample Day-In-The-Life

Provided Best Practices Analysis
and refined mock up
Analysis grouped
Observations are assembled, information by mental
grouped, and analyzed PROTOTYPE
model, which drives
navigation and
information
organization on pages
How people organize work information in UX MOCKUP
Provided refined sketch that includes
their own minds
closer mapping to mental model and Provided color blindness
best practices for usability analysis of existing prototype
and refined mockup


Ethnographic Methods – it’s about time …

With thanks to the team at Fit Associates
in Pittsburgh PA for the great visual below


Ethnography for Philly CHI

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