Open AccessGuides Not Gurus
Author(s) -
Howard Catherine,
Mortensen Peter
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
ethnographic praxis in industry conference proceedings
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1559-8918
pISSN - 1559-890X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-8918.2009.tb00124.x
Subject(s) - cognitive reframing , ethnography , quarter (canadian coin) , software deployment , empathy , public relations , marketing , curiosity , business , sociology , political science , psychology , engineering , social psychology , history , software engineering , archaeology , anthropology
The past quarter century has seen the deployment of ethnographic methods in business grow from a curiosity to a prerequisite for success. But in the process, the outcomes of ethnographic research–customer empathy, strategic directions, lasting market insights that shape design–have not been adopted at the same rate. The hand‐off from ethnographers to designers and business decision‐makers is the biggest challenge to success. The time has come for ethnographers to again reframe their role within business. Rather than acting as interpreters between the lives of ordinary people and the companies who serve them, ethnographers have the opportunity to instead help the entire business organization to gather a clear sense of its customers' lives. Ethnographers need to switch from being gurus of customer experience to being guides who take everyone in the company into the outside world.