Ethnographic research does it again

Great post by Ian Worley, Director of User Experience at Flow Interactive Ltd.

Ian writes that:

• “People are notoriously bad at identifying their own latent unmet needs, particularly where technology is concerned”.
• “the use of customer research .. to understand and influence buying behaviour is probably most thoroughly developed in the bricks-and-mortar retailing industry. However, these same approaches are not often used to design and build online stores, much less getting the two channels to work together”.
• “The best way to understand customer motivations and draw out insights that can have tangible impact on the bottom line, is to observe customers through the entire purchasing lifecycle; from learning about products, deciding on which ones to buy and ultimately buying and using them. This means using various ethnographic research techniques, from short context studies through to more in-depth longitudinal studies …”

Ian also shares a great case study how a toy company increased online sales with 33%. Through various studies the company found out that parents need assurance that certain toys are going to help the development of their child. As a result, the company changed the in-store experience by including this type of information on the packaging, while the Website was redesigned with additional age-based navigation, as well as age and development search filters.

The entire article is worth reading