Thinking and Doing Ethnography in Service Design

The following discussion refers to the paper 'Thinking and Doing Ethnography in Service Design' by Segelstrom et al. 

Problem 

Working on a service design project to improve the quality of life for elderly people in a run down area of Sweden, the design team came across a problem. It was proving difficult to find participants for necessary ethnographic research and hence creating empathy. 

Solution
The designers contacted a social club for elderly people living in the area and managed to arrange to take part in walking quiz. The design team added a research question between every normal quiz question and accompanied the participants through the walk. 

They found that in addition to answering quantitative research questions on the quiz sheet, participants discussed the research topics in more detail which led to some important insights both during the walk and in follow up interviews. The follow up interviews might not have been possible without the success of the walking discussions.

Analysis

I think this is a good example of a creative solution to a problem that most designers will face at some point - having difficulty finding participants for ethnographic research. 

What is also interesting is that once the participants started to answer the questions they were happy to discuss the topics in a lot more detail. Their quality of life and feeling safe in their  neighborhood is obviously important to them and I think most people would engage with designers who are creating a service for them if the circumstances are right.