A review of
Practical Ethnography: A Guide to Doing Ethnography in the Private Sector
By Sam Ladner
Left Coast Press

Digital interfaces have become more common, more ubiquitous, and more embedded in daily life. As this trend continues, it is more important for research to look beyond a narrow definition of an interaction in order to understand the “when, why, how, and where” people use a product, website, or app. UX has begun to look past lab studies and site visits, and UX researchers are starting to look for ways to understand the culture, context, and meaning of the user experience.

Enter ethnography, the field research method of anthropology. Sam Ladner, the author of Practical Ethnography, is one of the leading voices in the “anthro-designers” community—people trained in academic anthropology who made the leap to research in a business context.

The book is a guide to conducting ethnographic research, from starting a project, through the fieldwork, analysis and reporting. It’s a practical guide, full of observations and tips that clearly come from Ladner’s deep experience in both theory and practice.

It is also a strong advocate for the spirit of ethnography. For Ladner, ethnography is more than just another a technique for collecting data. It is an approach to research that seeks to understand people and their social and cultural environment. She makes the case that the most valuable insights come from understanding the goals and perspectives of this research, rather than just adopting a few of the methods. For example, in discussing why going into the field in an active and engaged way is so important, she says:

“Fieldwork means being visible to your participant and following his lead and wishes. It’s impossible to do that when you are not even physically there! Fieldwork, then means that you must be there, at as the primary research ‘instrument,’ and navigate the complexities of being in your participants’ context.”

Depending on your background and training, the book may be a comforting reminder of how to adapt a research approach to the real world of fast-paced projects. Or it may challenge you to think in different ways about how to learn about your audience. In the chapter on analysis, Ladner includes many useful examples of techniques for making sense of a rich body of qualitative data and putting it into a manageable form that can be employed to draw useful insights.

Whatever you expect from this book, don’t expect it to be bland. Ladner has strong opinions and is not afraid to say what she thinks. She knows that qualitative research can have a hard time being accepted in a business environment where hard evidence and the bottom line rule, and she confronts the challenge in her chapter on using theory to make sure your research is looking for truth and not just facts.

Her candid voice is a strength of the book. Instead of sweeping problems away, some of the best tips come in her discussions about how to solve them. And she’s not afraid to take unexpected positions, such as suggesting ways to use other research to jump-start your own. She even takes on focus groups, which can seem the opposite of ethnographic, and suggests ways to structure them to encourage richer conversations. Occasionally, she can be abrasive, dismissing things she doesn’t like or brushing them off with faint praise. However, these are small moments, and worth pushing past.

Most of all, Ladner is an advocate for a way of learning by knowing when to engage with the participants, and when to fade into the background.

Topics: User Research, Careers, Ethnography
Published in: February, 2015 in Open Topics

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