How to write hypothesis – the 7 stepstones method

We have developed a method to facilitate the writing of hypothesis behind an ethnographic research.

In order to be able to integrate a new product into their daily life, people need to go through 7 steps. Read more about our 7 step stone methods (in French)

We infer hypothesis about the future usage of a product/service by thinking for each of these seven steps what will help or hinder a potential customer to use the product/service.

Here is the template to do this exercise


 

A successful project starts with a solid project concept

When we start a project, we could be tempted to run to the field to start our observations and interviews. But there is a risk to be too fast, namely « shooting next to the target » as one will not have thought through the project goals, what is at stake, etc.

Therefore, we advise to take a couple of hours to write down a project concept. Here is how it could look like.

 

How do ethnographers work with designers?

Ethnographers share a couple of tools with designers or at least provide the content to designers to fill out some of their work tools like personas, customer journeys maps, affinity diagrams, tasks analysis grids etc. 

Here is an overview of designers tools. 

Service design tool

 

Et l’impact financier de l’ethnographie?

Interview avec Christine Truc Modica

«Aujourd’hui, les services sont très complexes et la phase de recette de ton service peut prendre plus d’un mois à cause des points qui risquent de ne pas fonctionner à l’implémentation. Aujourd’hui, ce temps de recette peut augmenter de façon  exponentielle. On dit toujours, si tu trouves une erreur en phase de concept, ça coûte 1 Euro pour la résoudre ; en phase de design, 10 Euros ; en implémentation, 100 Euros. D’où l’importance de la user research en début de processus de conception pour définir tous les use cases possibles dès le départ. »

Christine Truc Modica, directeur de programme, Fjord, Paris, France

How to write hypothesis – the 7 stepstones method

We have developed a method to facilitate the writing of hypothesis behind an ethnographic research.

In order to be able to integrate a new product into their daily life, people need to go through 7 steps. Read more about our 7 step stone methods (in French)

We infer hypothesis about the future usage of a product/service by thinking for each of these seven steps what will help or hinder a potential customer to use the product/service.

Here is the template to do this exercise