Category: EthOS Blog

User Experience Research, commonly abbreviated as UXR, is a powerful tool for any organization committed to data-driven operations. Using a wide range of methodological approaches, UXR helps companies understand how users and prospective users experience their brand. It may focus on a specific real-world product or service; or online properties like websites and mobile apps […]

Abstract: Diary studies and field studies are essential to the discovery phase as they allow designers to build a strong foundation for UXR and UX design. These methods are rooted in ethnography and reveal how products and services are used in the real world. Making the case for ethnographic methods Hypotheticals reign supreme in UX research […]

Abstract: Virtual ethnography is research that uses the Internet and other information technologies to collect and share cultural knowledge. Virtual ethnography usually takes the form of an online conversation and the electronic exchange of the participants’ ideas, opinions, experiences, and perspectives. Virtual ethnography is sometimes called interactive ethnography or web ethnography. Virtual ethnography aims to understand […]

Abstract: Cyber ethnography is the use of the Internet as a field research tool by anthropologists, sociologists, and corporate researchers, especially those that conduct their research to analyze how data can be used in field studies or to analyze social phenomena or issues. Cyber ethnography is a way of conducting ethnographic fieldwork grounded in Internet and […]

What is a Remote Field Study? Field studies are research activities that revolve around observing users in their natural context versus studying them in a controlled environment like a lab. Field studies are one of the best tools a researcher has to better understand their customers’ needs, behaviors, and opinions. Field studies can be observational […]

Technology continues to transform daily life, challenging insights teams to keep up with changing customer behaviors. As the world of digital natives has gone mobile, one of the most powerful innovations researchers have at their disposal is digital ethnography. It takes qualitative research to new levels of immediacy and authenticity. Instead of visiting a research […]

Abstract: To design is to understand, and to do that, designers will need to cultivate a solid UXR process. The key to UXR is discovering needs, exploring contexts, testing assumptions, and listening deeply. UXR separates industry leaders from run-of-the-mill organizations. What is UXR? Simply put, UXR is User Experience Research. Many designers know what they want […]

Abstract: User experience researchers have many methods at their disposal, and applying technology to these methods makes UXR more efficient and scalable. When deciding which method is best, it’s important to understand where you are in the UX process and the research objective at hand. User experience research (UXR) is the study of end-users to understand […]

Diary Studies Defined Diary Studies are a research methodology in which participants record their daily tasks, thoughts, or behaviors over a set period of time. While going about their daily routines, participants report their activities on a schedule (interval, signal, or event) using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative tasks.  Interval: data is collected once […]

Ethnography Goes Digital Traditionally, ethnographic studies have been conducted face-to-face with the participant in their natural habitat being observed by a researcher. The onset of the pandemic sparked an abrupt migration of market research projects to move online, including 1:1 interviews, focus groups, and ethnographies.  Previously, researchers gathered their data using cameras, microphones, and notepads. […]