Examining Your Cultural Research through the Lens of User Experience
In the quest to deliver the best possible user experience, businesses are turning to ethnographic research to gain a deeper understanding of their users. This research method, effectively deployed, can provide genuine strategic insights that can shape a product or service offering and even make it world-leading.
Ethnographic research offers a clear picture of a user group's behaviour, allowing us to determine each user's ideal use case and identify gaps between that ideal and reality. This approach requires shedding pre-suppositions and focusing on the reality of the users' lives.
The process involves individuals directly involved in the fieldwork, such as Walter Dostal, an Austrian ethnologist known for his field studies in Arab and Middle Eastern societies, and Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, a Swiss explorer who produced extensive ethnographic and geographic records during his travels in the Middle East and North Africa. While Han F. Vermeulen, a Dutch ethnologist specializing in the history of ethnology, is noted for his historical research, his contributions to direct fieldwork are less prominent.
Lab-based research is useful for testing specific questions in a structured manner, but it lacks the ability to observe users in their actual environment. Ethnographic research, on the other hand, allows for this observation, uncovering unexpected data that can lead to significant surprises during stakeholder debriefings.
Once the initial data review is complete, the focus should be on surprises that don't align with existing hypotheses or user base understanding. These surprises can reveal gaps that, when bridged, can significantly improve the user experience. Consulting technical stakeholders about the costs and implications of bridging these gaps is crucial to ensuring the feasibility of any proposed changes.
Re-evaluating every user's individual input to the project is also important. This ensures that the insights gained are not biased towards a particular user group but are representative of the entire user base.
The Image Sources mentioned in this article are: drs Bangkok, Sarah Gottfried, Theology Geek, and UID. These images provide visual aids to illustrate the process and outcomes of ethnographic research.
In conclusion, ethnographic research plays a vital role in delivering a world-class user experience. By shedding pre-suppositions and focusing on reality, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their users, uncover unexpected data, and make informed decisions to improve their products and services.
