The document summarizes several ethnographic studies conducted by Michele Visciola in Italy and Spain in 2012. It includes brief descriptions of studies on ethnographic research in Italy, a film by Luchino Visconti, work by Luca Cavalli Sforza on cultural evolution, and a critique of Everett Rogers' model of innovation diffusion. It also outlines two case studies conducted by Experientia - one on value exchange practices among immigrants in Turin and Madrid, and another called "Beyond Pink" investigating women's needs for mobile phones in China, Italy, Sweden and the UK. Maps, cards, and posters were used to visualize data from the studies.
1. Ethnographic studies in Italy
Michele Visciola
Michele Visciola I Barcelona - May 2012 I EPIC Europe
2. From Tomasi di Lampedusa The Leopard”
“Everything has to change
in order to keep the existing order”
Michele Visciola I Barcelona - May 2012 I EPIC Europe
3. “Everything
has to
change in
order to
keep the
existing
order”
Luchino Visconti’s
Il Gattopardo
“Everything has to change
in order to keep the existing order”
Michele Visciola I Barcelona - May 2012 I EPIC Europe
4. Luca Cavalli Sforza on the Evolution of people, genes and cultures
Michele Visciola I Barcelona - May 2012 I EPIC Europe
6. Rogers model of innovation is an over- simplification
of how people behaviors, aspirations and culture change
Migration Migration
Natural
selection
Mutation
Migration
Innovators Early adopters Early majority Late majority Laggards
Michele Visciola I Barcelona - May 2012 I EPIC Europe
7. Immigrant value exchange — Client confidential
Technology usage and value exchange in immigrant communities
8. CASE STUDY 2009
Value
Exchange
Immigrant value exchange. Experientia carried out Our approach
Ethnographic research
ethnographic research for in Turin and Madrid,
User interviews
looking at value exchange practices and technology Contextual observations
usage of immigrants in cities with high percentages of Roadmapping
immigration, with an aim of identifying opportunity
areas for mobile services to support their Our deliverables
Benchmark study
communication practices and the integration of
Research analysis
immigrant communities into adopted countries. Data visualization maps
and cards
8
10. Experientia designed a series of information cards to simply
visualize existing client data on the success of services in different
countries aimed at specific immigrant groups.
10
11. Beyond Pink — Client confidential
Focusing on women’s needs for the mobile phone ecosystem
12. CASE STUDY 2010
Beyond
Pink
Title
Beyond Pink - Client confidential. Experientia Our approach
Ethnographic research
investigated women’s real needs and behaviors for
Contextual observations
mobile phone ecosystems, in order to create User interviews
female-targeted phones, accessories and services User profiles
that go beyond the “pink it and shrink it” mentality. Design directions
We carried out ethnographic research, including Our deliverables
home visits and user interviews, in China, Italy, Ethnographic research
analysis
Sweden and the UK, to investigate the needs of very
User profile posters
different segments of women, from single women, Opportunity maps
to working mothers, to full-time career women. Future design directions
12
13. Private Banking — Client confidential
How to provide employees with the right architecture
of choice
14. Experientia s.r.l.
Torino (HQ)
Via Cesare Battisti 15
10123 Torino
Italy
T +39 011 812 9687
F +39 011 813 4121
info@experientia.com
www.experientia.com
14
Hinweis der Redaktion
\nGood morning! I have been asked to present today a very short distillation on what the situation is in Italy, in Ethnography, and on the recent progress that the Italian community might advocate in our field. I assumed I have been asked to give my personal view from my professional angle.... and therefore even though Experientia is an active players also in Italy, I cannot say I am giving a representation of all the Italian reality. Systematic studies with the use of ethnomethodologies are not so diffuse yet in Italy, even though there are good antecedents at the Academic level and within the growing “service design industry”. So let me give you some hints on what I can see now (and what I can use in my storytelling).\n
Let me start with one of the pillars of the Italian culture: “Everything has to change in order to keep the existing order”. This cultural value has been stigmatized by Tomasi di Lampedusa in his masterpiece Il Gattopardo (the Leopard).... which also became a popular movie.....\n
.... a masterpiece of the Italian maestro Luchino Visconti (someone of you has recognized Burt Lancaster in the movie poster). This principle is deeply rooted in the Italian system of shared values and sometimes you can see what are the implications of it in the daily life of people. If we want to make a long discourse a short one, we can say there are both positive and negative consequences implied in it. \nThis principle is also one of the main pillars of the modern biology: the homeostasis, which is the property of a system to regulate its internal environment and to keep it stable to avoid losses and damages. It is easy to understand it and quite effective to describe everybody life experiences through it. This principle - so widespread in the cultural DNAs of Italians - especially in the past, was aimed at describing the fact that the existing order of .... I say ...”things” (you can add all qualifying properties you want... political things, economical, social things) .... is given. In other words that is the way to manage and justify a conservative approach: things cannot change.... there are strong forces (an invisible hand) that makes almost impossible to have real changes. \nOn the other side, the positive one, this principle says that change is always in place. But it says also something more.... It also says that change can be in a way caused.... it can be enabled. This is what I think has had one of the most lasting positive effects in the Italian way to innovation: change is to be continuous\n
At this point I would like to mention another piece of the Italian creativity. This time that is in the scientific arena. By mapping the genes of small communities, a work started in Italy, Luca Cavalli-Sforza has shown that genes and cultures (in particular languages) can have similar evolutionary patterns. \n
I was inspired by the work of Cavalli Sforza, and in a paper that was published in Interactions in 2009, I exposed a conceptual framework to explain how human centered innovation can occur within cultures. In particular I tried to demonstrate that a given culture can manifest many evolutionary variations besides those initiated by smart innovators. \n
In other words the Rogers model of innovation is an over-simplification of how people behaviors, aspirations and culture change. Besides what in biology is called “mutation”, a rare event, (corresponding to the innovation triggered by innovators) there are several other possible paths that innovation within given cultures can take. These are “migration”, “natural selection” and “drift”. In my view this model allows to define a variety of choice architectures that reflect more clearly what are the opportunities that in all cultures at all the levels can be explored so to provide the nudges for sustainable choices and behavioral changes.\n
In a way we started to use this models in a variety of projects. I can mention shortly 3 of them: \n
Through a set of visualization tools we identified possible services to facilitate communication practices and the integration of immigrant communities into adopted countries\n
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In this project we defined a more elaborate architecture of choices focussing on gender insights \n
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In this project, finally, through a corporate ethnography study we defined new services aimed at improving the collaboration (timely sharing of information) within a banking organization \n