I’ve been trying a new ethnographic research technique called Sales Safari. It was developed by cross functional designers Amy Hoy and Alex Hillman. It unfortunately isn’t very well documented so I decided to write about it after reading how to do it in a book called “Designing Products People Love” by Scott Hurff.
The goal of this approach is to create great products by studying what your customers are saying. Insights come from analyzing large quantities of data collected from online public spaces like forums and social networks. I thought it might work well to craft a great signup experience for our customers on the new project I’m working on.
How I ran my Sales Safari
I started by identifying the places where our customers hang out. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Reddit and the WP.com forums where a good places to start. Later, I also reviewed some of our customer’s sites, survey responses, and support requests. I closely read through the conversations while visiting each location. Phrases that stuck out to me were copied and pasted in a spreadsheet. I created a single keyword to summarize the phrase so I could categorize them later. Here’s how Hillman describes what you should be looking for:
“You start collecting jargon, some of their specific detailed language and words they use to describe the problem […] Elements and contributions to their worldview, their deep-seated beliefs that are unshakable. Then also the things that they talk about, they recommend. The things that they buy.”
As I progressed, I felt like this was a never ending process. There is so much content out there. Each conversation lead to another and sometimes even to a whole new “watering hole” — a term Amy uses to describe places where people go to share their views. I eventually decided I had enough data to take a peek. As I started grouping the phrases by keyword, the patterns started to become clear right away.
What I learned
After going through this process I definitely feel like I know more about our customers than when we started. This kind of research takes a lot of time and isn’t ever really over. I intend to continue doing it on a regular basis to stay in touch with what our customers are saying and feeling. This new understanding of our customers has both empowered and inspired me to explore different ways we can show people the value of our product early on so we they can stick around with us for longer.
Share your thoughts
Have you tried this approach before? Do you have other ways you like to learn from your customers? Reach out on Twitter and let me know.