Ethnography: Ellen Isaacs at TEDxBroadway
Summary
TLDRThis script recounts the evolution of computer interfaces from cryptic command lines to intuitive graphical user interfaces, pioneered by Doug Engelbart and his team at Xerox PARC. It highlights the importance of observing user behavior, or ethnography, in designing technology that meets real needs, using examples from the 1980s and the speaker's own research on parking. The speaker encourages applying ethnography to Broadway to uncover hidden insights that could revolutionize the experience in the future.
Takeaways
- 💡 The evolution of computer interfaces from cryptic command lines to graphical user interfaces (GUIs) was a significant innovation, pioneered by Doug Engelbart and others at Xerox PARC.
- 🖥️ The Alto, developed at Xerox PARC in 1973, was the first graphical personal computer, which led to the development of modern desktop, laptop, and tablet computers.
- 🔮 Allan Kay's philosophy of inventing the future by envisioning it inspired the creation of user-friendly computer interfaces.
- 🏢 Xerox PARC was a hub of innovation, where the concept of personal computing and GUIs were first developed, shaping the technology landscape today.
- 🕵️♀️ Ethnography, introduced by Lucy Suchman, is a method of observing people in their natural environments to understand their needs and identify opportunities for innovation.
- 🤔 Usability testing and ethnography help uncover 'the hidden obvious' in product design, revealing insights that are not immediately apparent through traditional customer feedback methods.
- 🚗 The speaker's recent work in studying parking highlighted the need for better design in parking signs and the inefficient use of loading zones.
- 🚦 Redesigning parking signs to be more user-friendly, focusing on permissions rather than restrictions, can improve the parking experience for drivers.
- 📊 Observational research, such as studying parking habits, can lead to innovative solutions like smart parking meters that dynamically allocate spaces for loading and parking.
- 🎭 The speaker suggests that ethnography could be applied to Broadway to uncover unmet needs and inspire novel ideas to enhance the visitor experience.
- 🌟 The potential for innovation often lies in the gaps and workarounds that people develop in their daily activities, which can be discovered through careful observation and a 'naive state of mind'.
Q & A
What was the primary method of interacting with computers forty years ago?
-Forty years ago, interacting with a computer primarily involved using cryptic command-line instructions, such as typing 'LS' to list files, and 'MV' to move files from one folder to another.
How did the graphical user interface (GUI) revolutionize the way we interact with computers?
-The graphical user interface (GUI) revolutionized computer interaction by introducing a visual representation of files and folders, allowing users to perform tasks like moving files by simply dragging and dropping, rather than typing complex commands.
Who are the pioneers credited with inventing the graphical user interface?
-Douglas Engelbart and Xerox PARC are credited with inventing the graphical user interface, which significantly improved the usability of computers.
What did Alan Kay mean when he said 'the best way to predict the future is to invent it'?
-Alan Kay's statement implies that by creating innovative technologies, one can shape the future according to one's vision, rather than just passively waiting for it to happen.
What is ethnography and how did Lucy Suchman apply it to technology?
-Ethnography is a method of studying people in their natural environments to understand their needs and behaviors. Lucy Suchman applied it to technology by observing users interacting with a Xerox copier, which led to insights on improving product design and identifying opportunities for innovation.
Why is it important to observe people using technology rather than just asking them about their needs?
-Observing people using technology is important because it reveals the 'hidden obvious'—the unspoken problems and workarounds that users develop but may not consciously recognize or report. This approach uncovers deeper insights that direct questioning might miss.
What is an example of an unmet need discovered through ethnography in the script?
-One example is the difficulty of quickly understanding parking signs while driving by. Ethnographic observation revealed that signs focus on restrictions rather than clearly indicating what is allowed, which is a problem users may not mention in surveys or interviews.
How did the study of parking signs lead to a potential solution for improving them?
-The study led to the realization that parking signs should be redesigned to be more user-friendly, with information organized by time of day and clear indications of what is allowed, using color coding and symbols for quick understanding.
What issue did the ethnographic study of parking identify with loading zones?
-The study identified that loading zones, marked by yellow curbs, were often underutilized, leading to a waste of parking resources. At the same time, delivery trucks struggled to find suitable places to park, resorting to illegal parking methods.
How does the prototype parking meter mentioned in the script address the issue with loading zones?
-The prototype parking meter can change its state from parking to loading and vice versa, based on the needs of the moment. This flexibility allows for more efficient use of parking spaces, making them available for general parking when not needed for loading.
What is the broader application of ethnography suggested for Broadway in the script?
-The script suggests using ethnography to observe and understand the experiences of people visiting Broadway, from planning their day out to interacting with various services. This could reveal unmet needs and opportunities for improving the Broadway experience.
Outlines
🖥️ The Evolution of User Interfaces
This paragraph discusses the transformation of computer interfaces from command-line operations to graphical user interfaces. It starts by describing the early days of computing where users interacted with blinking cursors and typed commands like 'LS' to list files. The files appeared uniform, regardless of their content type. The speaker then contrasts this with modern file management, where files and folders are visually distinct, making it easier to understand their contents and manage them. The paragraph highlights the pioneering work of Doug Engelbart and Alan Kay at Xerox PARC, who invented the mouse and graphical user interfaces, leading to the development of personal computers. The speaker also mentions the challenges of predicting technological advancements, referencing a time when computers were massive and expensive, and the idea of a personal computer was considered extravagant. The paragraph concludes by introducing the concept of ethnography, a method used to observe and understand user behavior, which was pioneered by Lucy Suchman at Xerox PARC.
🔍 Ethnography and Observing User Behavior
This paragraph delves into the concept of ethnography, a method of studying people in their natural environments to understand their needs. The speaker explains that while companies often rely on direct questioning through focus groups or surveys, these methods have limitations. Ethnography, as introduced by Lucy Suchman, involves observing users to identify unmet needs and opportunities for innovation. The speaker uses the example of parking signs to illustrate how ethnography can reveal hidden problems. By observing people trying to quickly decipher parking regulations, the speaker identifies the need for clearer, more user-friendly signage. The paragraph also discusses the inefficiency of loading zones and how observing their misuse led to the idea of a prototype parking meter that could dynamically change its function based on demand. This example demonstrates how ethnography can uncover insights that are not immediately apparent through traditional customer feedback methods.
🎭 Applying Ethnography to Broadway
In this paragraph, the speaker suggests applying the method of ethnography to Broadway to uncover hidden needs and opportunities for improvement. The speaker encourages observing various aspects of a day out on Broadway, such as ticket purchasing, hotel check-ins, restaurant choices, and show attendance. By maintaining a naive state of mind and being patient, the speaker believes that one might discover insights that could lead to innovative solutions for Broadway. The speaker emphasizes the potential for ethnography to reveal the 'hidden obvious' and inspire ideas that could become commonplace in the future, drawing a parallel to how innovations in computing interfaces were once groundbreaking but are now taken for granted.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Graphical User Interfaces (GUI)
💡Ethnography
💡Usability Testing
💡Innovation
💡Command-Line Interface
💡Xerox PARC
💡Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)
💡Alto
💡Ethnographic Observation
💡User-Centered Design
💡Prototype
Highlights
Forty years ago, computers required users to type cryptic commands like 'LS' to list files, which all appeared the same regardless of their content type.
Today's visual representation of files and folders, with distinct icons for different file types, was not always the standard.
The graphical user interface (GUI) was invented by Doug Engelbart and his team at Xerox PARC, revolutionizing how users interact with computers.
In 1971, Alan Kay of Xerox PARC stated that the best way to predict the future is to invent it, highlighting the proactive approach to innovation.
The Alto, created at Xerox PARC in 1973, was the first graphical personal computer and laid the foundation for modern desktop, laptop, and tablet computers.
Ethnography, the practice of observing people in their natural environments, was introduced to industry by Lucy Suchman and has become a valuable method for understanding user needs.
Usability testing, now a common practice, was pioneered by observing users' interactions with technology to identify design flaws and opportunities for improvement.
Margaret Mead's quote emphasizes the difference between what people say they want and what they actually do, underscoring the importance of observation over self-reporting.
Ethnography can reveal the 'hidden obvious'—the unmet needs and problems that users work around but do not necessarily articulate.
The study of parking through ethnography identified the difficulty of quickly understanding parking signs while driving by, pointing to a need for design improvement.
A redesigned parking sign example organizes information by time of day and includes symbols for international understanding, demonstrating the application of ethnographic insights.
The inefficiency of loading zones, often unused while needed for deliveries, was another issue identified through ethnographic study of urban parking.
A prototype parking meter that can change states based on truck GPS and needs was developed as a solution to the inefficient use of loading zones.
The speaker suggests that ethnography could be applied to Broadway to uncover unmet needs and opportunities for innovation in the theater and entertainment industry.
The potential for ethnography to reveal novel ideas that could become the standard in the future of an industry, such as Broadway, is highlighted.
The importance of maintaining a naive state of mind while conducting ethnography to ensure unbiased observation and discovery of insights is emphasized.
Transcripts
forty years ago if you sat in front of a
computer this is what you would see a
blinking cursor waiting patiently for
you to tell it what to do if you wanted
to see your files you would type LS for
list and then it would show you your
files like this they'd all look the same
even though some might be txt some might
be images and but now if you want to see
your files you just open up the folder
and you look and you can see some are
texts some are images because they look
that way if you wanted to move a file
from one folder to another you would
type MV for move the name of the file
Isaac's file doc and then something like
dot dot slash dot dot slash talks which
is the location of the destination
folder local relative to the current
folder now you drag the file from one
folder to another we take this visual
display of our files and folders for
granted but somebody had to think of
that at a time when everybody who use
computers type those kinds of cryptic
commands somebody had to first notice
that this wasn't so easy and second
think of a better way to do it
someone had to think that you could draw
little pictures and files and folders on
the screen and manipulate them by
dragging a little box around on the
tabletop well those people were dug
angle part and L&K angle BOTS invented
the mouse and K invented what's called
graphical user interfaces at the time
Allan K worked at Xerox PARC in
California which is where I work today
and in 1971 he said the best way to
predict the future is to invent it and
that's what he did so this was at a time
when computers look like this giant
boxes of Technology and big rooms hooked
up to these terminals which is where you
type those commands they were very
expensive so you had to share them and
people would sign up for time on the
computer so it's not surprising that at
a time like this can also in the head of
a very big computer company called
digital said there's no way anyone would
want a computer in the home somebody had
to think that you could take all that
technology and compress it into a little
box that would sit on the desktop and it
would be dedicated to just one person's
use
so that's something we all take for
granted now but at the time that would
be extravagant well those people worked
at Xerox PARC and then in 1973 they
invented the alto the first graphical
personal computer and that led to the
Apple Macintosh the IBM PC and now all
the slick desktop laptop and tablet
computers that we all use today so we're
here today talking about the best of
what Broadway can be and I think that
the reason that I was invited here is
that the organizers were hoping that
some of that magic from the early park
scientist is still lingering in the
halls where I work revealing to me a
vision of where you will be in 20 years
well I'm afraid that hasn't happened but
there is one bit of park magic that I
can share with you and it has to do with
a method that you can use to figure it
out called ethnography so let's go back
to the 1980s when a Xerox copier took up
an entire room there was another park
scientist Lucy Suchman and she had the
idea that maybe if you're building
technology for people you should watch
them using it so she decided to watch
some people using his York's copier she
grabbed a couple of her colleagues from
down the hall and she asked them to make
copies so I'm going to show you a short
clip from a video from this historic
video of these two people making copies
place 150 originals for women I have
face up
place our rituals against the left wall
we want two sided copies unload top
paper tray that we want them clear later
what
reverse or whether the originals gotta
be kidding this is definitely about
press Start
that relate to that we did your that's
not theirs that's not the people who
didn't say what the paper trail good
batch first that so well
we should come up with a lot of paper so
it turns out that those two people from
down the hall are world renowned
computer scientists one of them went on
to win the equivalent of the Nobel Prize
in computer science so clearly the
problem is not that the people are dumb
the problem was with the design of the
copier today it is now common practice
for companies to do what's called
usability testing but back then it
wasn't done Lucy Suchman had to think of
it and she went further she realized
that you could use observe people not
just to figure out how to make their
products easier to use but also to
figure out what products to build in the
first place so this practice of
observing people in their natural
environments to understand their needs
is called ethnography at the time it was
an academic practice it grew out of
anthropology Lucy Sussman was the first
one to apply it to industry so even
today not everybody uses ethnography
most companies will try to understand
their customers needs by asking them
directly using tools like focus groups
or surveys but asking people to tell you
what they want gets you only so far as
the anthropologist Margaret Mead said
what people say what people do and what
people say they do are entirely
different things when people do their
jobs or just any ordinary activity much
of what you do just becomes invisible to
you it's just what you do but if you
watch people you start to realize a lot
of times people are working around their
tools and it's these gaps or problems
people people work around that are
opportunities for innovation the thing
is a lot of times when you point them
out to people they'll say well sure it's
obvious that's a problem but they don't
think to tell you about it when you ask
to notice it you have to get out and
watch so I like to think of my job as an
ethnographer like this you sit and you
watch the chaos that is human behavior
and if you're patient and you watch for
a while and you have a naive state of
mind you start to notice insights that
are obvious after you point them out you
start to notice the hidden obvious well
how does this work
what does ethnography like well let me
give you two examples from my work so
the last couple of years I've been
studying parking now I realize parking
is an odd place to go looking for tec-9
ecology opportunities but we all know
New York is especially the parking is an
area where there's a lot of problems and
a lot of needs not being met so to study
parking my colleagues and I have spent a
lot of times hanging around on street
corners watching cars parking trucks
unloading enforcement officers giving
tickets and we've seen a lot of things
you might expect and some that you might
not so one of the things that we started
to notice gradually was the parking
signs and how difficult it can be to
tell the one thing you want to know
quickly can I park here now in the few
seconds you have as you're driving by so
I'm going to show you a sign for about
that amount of time and I want you to
figure out can you park here now let's
say it's Wednesday early in the morning
at 7 a.m. can you park here now ok let's
look again ok this is hard not just
because there's so much going on but
you'll notice that Wednesday is not
mentioned and 7 a.m. is not in any of
the time ranges so you have to infer
that because it's not covered you can
park here at least to the left of the
signs okay here's another one it's 3
p.m. can you stop here now ok let's look
again so the bottom sign says no parking
at 3 p.m. so that implies that you can
stop and the top no stopping sign
doesn't cover 3 p.m. so that implies
again you can't you have to figure out
that you can stop here ok and here's one
more where I challenge you to figure out
what you can do here at any time
so the problem here is that parking
signs focus on restrictions no this know
that when what you want to know is what
you can do now when I say it like this
it seems obvious but when you go when
you ask people to tell you what are your
some of your problems you have with
parking they generally don't go
complaining and saying you know parking
signs are difficult to read quickly as
you drive by because they focus on
restrictions to really understand this
you have to get out and watch and it can
take a while we because we were looking
at so many different aspects of parking
the signs didn't really come into focus
for us until the fourth city and over a
thousand photos and videos once we
noticed it it was obvious so what could
you do about this well one thing you
could do is redesign the signs and so
here's one possible way you could design
that second sign and it's on the right
you see it's organized by time of day
from morning through night so at any
time you can find now and then you can
just look to the right and see can I
park green yes red no orange there's
some kind of restriction like here it's
deliveries only and if you want to be
kind to international as you could
include symbols okay so that's one
example of how ethnography found an
unmet need let me give you another one
so we noticed a lot of times when we
were out looking that there were a lot
of loading zones marked by yellow curbs
that weren't being used here we are
looking for a parking spot and it's just
loading as far as the eye can see and
not very many trucks using it and yet we
can't park on the other hand we saw a
lot of times when trucks were trying to
make deliveries and couldn't find a
loading zone and since they have to park
near where they're going to be
delivering they get creative so they
double Park and they block in cars both
diagonal and parallel they park in the
median blocking cars from turning left
they park in the crosswalk blocking
people from crossing the street and they
park on the sidewalk so the problem here
is that loading zones take up precious
parking resources and yet they don't
really meet the need again I point this
out seems obvious but when we talk to
people about the parking problems they
don't say loading zones are inefficient
they say there's not enough parking so
what can you do about this well what you
really like to do is to have the spots
for loading when there need
and then make them available to everyone
else when they're not so this is
something we're doing right now we have
built a prototype parking meter that can
change its state from parking to loading
no parking in other states and since
trucks have GPSS oops or to have GPSS
and they know where they're going we can
take a spot and change it from parking
to loading and then when they come in
they park they can put it back to park
it okay so what does all this have to do
with Broadway well what I'm trying to
say is that well I don't know what you
need to do to make Broadway the best it
can be you can get some ideas by using
ethnography it's a very general tool
we've used it in many different domains
hospitals nursing call centers retail
stores young people using mobile devices
lots more and you could use it on
Broadway so you could accompany a family
as they're spending a day out on
Broadway or you could watch someone as
they're planning a day for an evening
for a night out and a show or you could
just hang out at the tickets booth and
watch people buying tickets or people
checking into hotels or people choosing
a restaurant or window shopping or going
to a show all those things and maybe if
you're patient and you do it for a while
and you keep a naive state of mind maybe
you will discover the hidden obvious
maybe you'll be the one to think of a
novel idea that people will take for
granted in 20 years thank you
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