Abstract:

The projects we will draw upon throughout this paper have all been conducted within the technology sector. Historically, this sector has been driven more by product or technology led innovation processes than by allowing innovation to be driven by what the customer really wants. Therefore it is logical that, with the new emphasis on ‘customer centricity’, an increasing number of technology companies are turning to ethnographic approaches to help streamline and improve innovation. The challenges facing the technology sector as it switches from a product-led to a customer-led innovation process reflect challenges that are also relevant to other sectors wishing for greater ‘customer centricity’. Therefore, the methodological issues and considerations that this paper highlights will be relevant for all industry sectors.Ethnography offers several benefits over and above traditional qualitative research. Listed below are just some of the benefits that our clients gained from the use of ethnographic techniques within recent studies we conducted on their behalf.