Using Mobile Ethnography platforms as a tool for Foundational Research in UX
Author: Carey Petersen
According to Nir Eyal, a leading expert in behavioral design, 79 percent of smartphone owners check their device within 15 minutes of waking up every morning (Source: Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products).
Why then, when you google Foundational Research do most websites and blogs still recommend Field Studies and User Interviews?
If you truly want to explore the unmet, unarticulated needs of your users, UX Researchers must get beyond the claimed behaviors of interviews and harness the power of smartphones to longitudinally connect with research participants in multiple contexts and truly discover what they really feel, need and do.
Enter: Mobile Ethnography.
What is Mobile Ethnography in the context of Foundational UX Research?
First of all, what is mobile ethnography? A research method used initially by anthropologists, Ethnography is a method of observing human interactions in social settings and activities - essentially, observing people within their “cultural context.” Rather than studying people from the outside, you learn more about people from the inside.
How does mobile ethnography differ from traditional ethnography? UX Researchers have used it to observe consumers and users in their natural environment, allowing them to get an authentic understanding of their every day behaviors. With the surge of technology and increasing smartphone acceptance, we are presented with an opportunity to remotely conduct ethnography through a mobile device. The act of undertaking ethnographic research remotely via mobile is referred to a Mobile Ethnography or more recently, Digital Ethnography.
How does Mobile Ethnography compare to traditional Foundational Research UX methods?
Traditionally, the go to methodologies for UX Foundational Research were User Interviews or Field Studies. While these are tried and tested foundational research methods, they are synchronous research methods where the UX researcher must be synchronous with their research participants.
In a User Interview, you have 60-90 minutes to discover what you need to learn and all of the learnings from that interview rely on both memory and claimed behaviors, You literally cannot back up what the research participant claims they need or do.
In a field study, you need to visit the research participants home or workplace but again you have a limited time window to discover what you need. Another drawback here is the Researcher Effect which can alter how your research participants behave because you are literally there observing them.
Longitudinal foundational research gets beyond claimed behaviors
Mobile ethnography however is a longitudinal, asynchronous approach. It can be used for a variety of foundational research methods (e.g. generative research or discovery research), providing quality, context rich, in-the-moment data that user interviews cannot quite achieve. Furthermore, because it is a remote exploratory research approach, there is no researcher effect as the UX research participants are in their every day context with “no one else in the room”.
Finally, Mobile Ethnography, because it is a longitudinal UX research method means that user needs and behaviors are captured over several days across multiple contexts which allows you to get beyond claimed behaviors and see exactly what your participants do when they are doing it.
Finally, Mobile Ethnography can be used for both exploratory and evaluative research. It is one of the most effective ways to conduct remote diary studies and explore the real life needs and behaviors of UX research participants.
What are the benefits of Mobile Ethnography for Foundational UX Research?
Since most people have their smartphones with them 24/7, using Mobile Ethnography for foundational research provides UX researchers with an innovative way to gain authentic, contextual insights that allow them to witness in-the-moment interactions with products and explore the moments that matter in context. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits.
Generate rich user insights
Mobile ethnography collects real-time unmoderated data in authentic settings and can capture longitudinal data throughout the user journey.
Authentic Storytelling
Video uncovers real human stories and helps put the data into context to make user-centric decisions while uncovering complex thoughts and revealing compelling insights.
Deep Foundational Research
It enables you to remotely conduct deep foundational research which gives you the opportunity to capture unmet needs and real world problem spaces.
Engaging UX Research Method
Video boosts participant engagement. It is fun, quick, and easy to use while giving respondents significant flexibility. This becomes a major factor in acquiring quality data.
Easy to identify patterns
Mobile ethnography is closer to actual qualitative data and provides the ability to observe the linguistic choices different audiences use. This is beneficial in quality user engagement as it gives you data on what will resonate with a particular audience and also the specific wording that will work to get you there.
Understand emotional drivers
Video feedback allow UX researchers to experience the authentic emotions and feelings of participants which gives researchers a unique perspective on the user’s emotional drivers.
Fast efficient exploratory research approach
It also provides a quick turnaround, eliminating the need for logistics such as travel and on-site staff requirements.
Capture media rich behaviors
It captures more detailed, multimedia responses than you would get in a survey and more natural responses than you might see during an interview (real-time information rather than recalling facts).
What are typical use cases for Mobile Ethnography in Foundational Research?
Giving stakeholders and product teams a real life lens into the user’s world, which builds empathy and encourages a truly user-centric design.
Embedding video clips into surveys so that you capture the why behind the whats
Conducting longitudinal Diary Studies
Undertaking Generative Research
Exploratory User Journey Mapping
Developing User Personas
Where are some examples of other Foundational Research methods?
Let’s take a look at some of the most widely-used traditional qualitative and quantitative Foundational Research methods.
| Qualitative | Quantitative |
|---|---|
| User interviews | Surveys/Questionnaires |
| Moderated/Unmoderated Usability Testing | A/B Testing |
| Diary Studies | Tree Testing |
| Card Sorting | Eyetracking |
Mobile Ethnography falls under the qualitative umbrella of Foundational Research and is also an excellent tool for generative user research as well as diary studies.
The ease of use and integration with today’s mobile technology, allows UX researchers a unique look into their users’ behavior that interviews, usability testing, and card sorting cannot fully achieve.
The shift to remote, digital methods for foundational research
Over the past few years, UX researchers everywhere have been required to dramatically pivot every aspect how they conduct discovery and exploratory research.
With the shift to hybrid and remote work and increasing physical isolation, traditional methods of in-person Foundational UX Research have became almost impossible. As a result, UX Researchers have shifted altered their research tool kit towards more remote solutions.
Conducting remote foundational research is not only a sustainable option that many companies should continue to utilize, our customers consistently tell us that the behaviors, needs and experiences they capture using Mobile Ethnography are richer, more real and more revelatory than what they previously surfaced using interviews or field studies.
Furthermore, it cuts down on the need for travel and allows you do research in multiple countries concurrently without ever leaving your desk.
Let us support your next foundational research project.
In a fast-changing world that is gravitating towards more agile and remote research options, mobile ethnography provides cost-effective options for UX Research professionals to acquire quality user data with in-the-moment feedback in their foundational research.
At Indeemo we have supported hundreds of foundational, exploratory, discovery and generative UX research projects. Contact us now to explore how you can leverage the power of mobile ethnography to transform your discovery research.