REVEAL AND REFLECT

Using Anthropology to Extract Customer Gems

Akhilesh Pant @pant_ak

No Chimps

No Shirtless Digging

Just No.

IT’S ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN CONTEXT

“All service which a [person] can perform for humanity must serve to promote truth.”

-Franz Boas

The Foundation

Anthropology: “The study of humans, past and present.” Cultural Anthropology: “The study of cultural variation among humans.” Ethnography: “The systematic study of people and cultures…from the point of view of the subject of the study.” Ethnographic Design: “A process in which the needs, wants and limitations of end users of a product, service or process are given extensive attention at each stage of a design process.”

Broad Definitions Theory

Application

The Hype

More Hype

THERE’S A LITTLE MORE TO IT…

The Spectrum

Assumptions Untestable Insight Testing Assumptions

What We Think We Know

What We Couldn’t Have Known

What We Actually Know

Institutional-knowledge-gathering Start with curiosity: what do people think they know about the target population? These are initial hypotheses. Surveys Refine hypotheses based on responses. Structured / semi-structured interviews Test the hypotheses: prove, support, modify or disprove. Participant observation; immersion Gather behavioral tendencies, deduce desires; fine-tune previous findings, generate insights

The Ethnographic Toolkit

Assumption

Untestable Insight

Testing Assumptions

The Result

Brand loyalty and

strengthened relationships

Understanding of context

Empathy

Informed design

PROVE IT.

Adidas - USA Shift from flashy, striking colors to softer and “less agitating” designs. Why? Because the average target consumer’s most significant concern is motivation, not aesthetics.

Fact: If You’re Normal, You Hate Exercising

Fotile – China Stovetop designed specifically for the urban Chinese family. Factors considered: two primary cooking vessels, high heat, smoke, “tossing” motion.

None of this Western Nonsense

SO…

WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE FOR US?

Posting thought leadership content on platforms like LinkedIn can significantly influence an executive’s perception of your firm.

Assumption

Sidenote: 88% of executives have a LinkedIn profile, 73% consider it their “platform of choice”

Survey question: On a scale of 1 - 5 (5 = most important), how important is it for you to see a firm post thought leadership content on social media? General answer: Between 2 and 3. …important, but not game-changing.

Refine Assumption

Interview Question: Can you tell me about how thought leadership content posted on LinkedIn might impact your perception of a firm? It’s always nice to see it. It tells me that they are producing unique knowledge, not just leeching it from others.

Test Assumption

Follow-up: …you mentioned “producing knowledge.” What tells you that this knowledge will make the firm more effective? My company often has novel problems, so the firm I choose needs to be on the cutting-edge of my industry.

Test Assumption

Urge firm contributors to write about their research, focusing on recently developed knowledge that is specific to industries they work with.

Recommendation

But is this everything? Are there other factors at play?

We never got to the immersion piece. What if we could observe their behavior and, more importantly, their immediate reactions? What if we could track their reposts, their shares and their commentary? What if we could talk to them (relatively) on-demand, and get their reasoning right after they perform the action?

Deeper Analysis

We could learn something like this: They not only like new knowledge that is relevant to their industry… But they appreciate when authors are able to display expertise without using complex jargon, instead simplifying it for the audience. Maybe this could bring that 2-3 to a 4-5.

The Result

Where We End Up

Assumptions Untestable Insight Testing Assumptions

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

The Bottom Line

Marketing and business development strategies need to be centered as much around qualitative data (emotionality) as they are around numerical indicators (rationality). Don’t ignore either side of the equation. Both can help you break ground and stay competitive.

What You Should Do

Take steps to move as far as possible from assumption towards truth. Go from stereotypes to deeply-informed personas, scenarios and use cases. Ask yourself: are you putting yourself in your users’ shoes?