Ethnographic tools give us information about what people do and why they do it. Using contextual inquiry we can find out how users are using the product and where they are having problems. We can ask questions while the product is being used in its usual place of use. We can use focus groups to gather information from users who are all talking about the product together. This may give us insight into what people might think would be useful features to include that we may not have considered. We can use competitive product analysis to supplement the previous types of research. Using just this form of tool on its own can be detrimental because it uses the assumption the competitor’s product already has the best features. We can then put our research into process flow and ecosystem diagrams and journey maps to help us decide how to best organize the banking website and make it user-friendly.
A design is finished when the end user is done using it. It is successful when the user considers the “conversation” finished. The purpose of the conversation of design is to help the user use a product or complete a task.
One product family that I use regularly comes from Proctor and Gamble, though I didn’t realize that they were all P&G products until I looked them up. I use P&G’s fabric care products – Tide, Bounce, and Downy for my laundry. I use Tide because my husband prefers that brand. He has sensitive skin and has never had any trouble with Tide laundry detergent. I use Bounce and Downy because they are each available in dye and scent free versions. I am not really sure how the branding has affected my use, relationship and experiences with these products, but I know that they consistently give me good results with my laundry because I never hear any complaints from my family about itchy skin and the clothes all look, feel, and smell clean. I have not attempted to change brands out of fear that my family will start complaining about skin issues. If it works, don’t change it.