Ethnographie – Méthodes

Brève vidéo introduisant comment un designer observe le monde pour faire de meilleures choix de design

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. ethnographic successful project concept template

Recruiting is NEVER easy! Here is an example of a recruitment letter we have used for one of our projects. recruit participants

Without guaranteeing confidentiality, one cannot interview or observe someone. How does an ethnographer secure confidentiality? Here is an exemple of a confidentiality agreement we have used for a project at the EPFL (polytechnic federal school). Guaranteeing confidentiality

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 .

After interviews and observations have been done, an ethnographer retranscribes his notes. Here is an exemple on how we have done it for a project with the EPFL (Polytechnic Federal School of Lausanne). retranscribe interviews

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): http://www.gbnews.ch/archives/ethnographie-et-marketing-sept-pierres-pour-predire-le-succes-dun-produit We infer hypothesis about the future usage of a product/service by thinking for each of these seven steps what will h

An ethnographer prepares an interview and observation guide before going onto the field. It is NOT a list of questions he will strictly go through, it is more a red thread he will navigate through. Here is an exemple we used for a project at the EPFL (Polytechnic Federal School, Lausanne). interview observation guide ethnography

An interview and observation guide is based on a topic map, namely an overview of all the different important topics that will have to be covered during the interview or observations. Check out an example of a topic map. topic map on the field - ethnographic fieldwork