Ethnography and Product Development Part 1

Ethnography – or the study of cultural phenomenon through observational research – is a qualitative research tool that has real implications for a variety of different companies. While there are different types of ethnography and different ways it can be utilized, product development is arguably the most common.

One might argue that ethnography in its purest form has been at the heart of every new product in history. When mankind invented the wheel, chances are he realized that rocks were not helping his fellow cave people get around, and so he wanted to create a product that improved mobility. This is ethnography, at least a form of it.

Any time you see any commercial on TV for a new type of product it's either a scam or a product based on ideas that came through observation, and while that observation may not have been part of some type of structured research efforts, it did help the company develop an idea that later became a product. Companies take a more structured approach to this and use ethnography to develop new products or make improvements to their current products. Sometimes termed "applied ethnography" (because you are not necessarily studying cultures, but rather using observational data), the idea is to watch customers use your products, similar products, or the action the products are designed to assist with and seeing if you can develop a product around what you discover.

The activities now considered to be "applied ethnography" have grown. For example, personal journaling and self-taping are often categorized under the ethnographic label, but it's questionable if these should really be considered ethnography. In general, this type of research is expected have all of the following qualities: Uses natural surroundings and behaviors, either observing real life or mimicking real life.

Is generally unstructured, allowing behaviors to flow as naturally as possible. Usually is designed to explore new ideas rather than confirm old ones. Recall that the idea is to discover what the consumer needs and how the product can be built or altered to meet those needs.

While a particularly innovative company may not have any product in mind at all, most companies will be looking for how a person responds in an environment that could use the product or is using the product and takes note of even the smallest of behaviors for further exploration. We'll continue discussing this in the next article.