1. Ethnographic Opportunity
Analysis 2012 part 1
Hank Delcore & Jim Mullooly
aka “TheAnthroGuys” @
www.TheAnthroGuys.com
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2. n ?
a tio
n ov
In
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3.  Innovation in Business (Schumpeter, 1934)
 1. Introduction of a new/improved good
 2. Introduction of a new method of
production
 3. Opening new market or territory
 4. Conquest of a new source of raw
materials
 5. New type of organization
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4.  Innovation in Business (Schumpeter, 1934)
 1. Introduction of a new/improved good
Sweet
Chocolate
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5.  Innovation in Business (Schumpeter, 1934)
 2. Introduction of a new method of
production
Henry Ford’s
Assembly Line
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6.  Innovation in Business (Schumpeter, 1934)
 3. Opening new market or territory
Shushi in US
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7.  Innovation in Business (Schumpeter, 1934)
Sugar Beets
in 1870s
 4. Conquest of a new source of raw
materials
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8.  Innovation in Business (Schumpeter, 1934)
Japanese
Automotive
Administration
 5. New type of organization
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9.  Innovation in Business (Schumpeter, 1934)
 1. Introduction of a new/improved good
Sweet
Chocolate
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10. Steve Jobs
Master of
Innovation as
improvement
of an existing
good
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11. How
Personal
Computers
were Used
(1984)
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12. How Music
devices
were Used
(2001)
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13. How Smart
Phones
were Used
(2007)
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14. How Tablet
Computers
were Used
(2010)
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15. BUT
Apple is a
Software
Company
(Steve Jobs)
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16.  Apple is a Software Company (Jobs)
The Macintosh Interface
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17. Apple is a Software Company (Jobs)
The Ipod’s Itunes Store
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18. Apple is a Software Company (Jobs)
The Iphone’s
App Store
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19. Apple is a Software Company
(Jobs)
The Ipad’s
App Store
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20. How can you
find these
opportunities?
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21. 21

22. 22

23. Ethnographic (Inductive)
Opportunity Analysis
 Deductive Approaches
– Hypothesis  Data Collection  Analysis
 from general to specific
 Inductive Approaches
– Data Collection  Analysis  Hypothesis
 from specific to general
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24. Engineering vs. Reverse Engineering
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25. 25

26. The AnthroGuy Himself
Professor Hank Delcore
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27. 27

28. Intel Green Homeowners
as Lead Adopters
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29. What People Say They
Do
and What They Do Are
Different
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30. The Business Case for User-
Driven Innovation
 Unprecedented specialization and
segmentation, multiplied many times over
by domestic and international cultural
diversity.
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31. The Value of the Use Case
 Entrepreneurs can neither assume
that they are socially or culturally
close to users nor that they can keep
up with consumer trends themselves –
unless they seek user-centered
insights.
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32. Increased Competition
 Increased competition from emerging
economies
 Companies can no longer rely on the
advantages of being the first to introduce
new technologies to the market.
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33. Democratization of
Knowledge
 The democratization of knowledge, driven by the
internet and information technology in general
 Armed with lots of information and the ability to
buy from companies all over the globe, consumers
no longer consider the price/quality trade-off as the
sole driver of choice.
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34. Democratization of
Knowledge
 Instead, consumers increasingly consider how a
company and its products match their own
personal values, behaviors and needs.
 To get at this, successful companies must include
users in the innovation process.
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35. Just to Stay Solvent
 As Squires and Byrne put it: “…companies
have to manufacture the right commodities and
deliver them in the right way to the right
consumers at least four out of ten times every
year – just to stay solvent” (Squires and Byrne
2002:xiv).
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36.  Traditional R&D departments and
entrepreneurs with their own views on
“what people want” can no longer
keep up with the reality of rapidly
evolving needs and desires.
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37. THE ASSIGNMENT
 1) Conduct some sort of “inductive
observation”,
 2) analyze your notes, then
 3) expand those notes into a brief
report about what you found.
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38.  DESCRIPTION
– Rather than looking into a completely
innovative idea (service or product), the
goal is to 1) observe something that
already works; 2) observe it in great
detail; then 3) begin to understand it in
such detail that you can 4) make
concrete suggestions about improving it.
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39.  In Other Words
– Rather than looking for how consumers
COULD use a NEW service/product, the
goal is to observe how consumers DO
use a EXISTING service/product with the
intention of looking for opportunities to
improve or “add value” to that
experience.
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40.  Steps
– 1. Find a routine, taken-for-granted
task/service/product,
– 2. “Hang out” and “thickly describe” it in a
notebook,
– 3. In a one page pitch, suggest some sort of
innovation that will add value. DUE: next
Wednesday March 14 by 3:00pm in class.
– The best observations will be published on our
blog and presented in class on March 21st.
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41. Ethnographic Opportunity
Analysis part 1
Hank Delcore & Jim Mullooly
aka “TheAnthroGuys” @
www.TheAnthroGuys.com
Thanks for your Time
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