Through the lens of a 3rd culture kid: An insider’s take into conducting user research in India and Indonesia
Disclaimer: This is not an article on “How to conduct User Research around the world” but, it is a tale of studying people in the countries that I consider “home.”
I am from everywhere, and nowhere…
My background as a third-culture kid influences the way I interpret people. I was born in Indonesia to parents of Indian origin (who both had never lived in India), and I moved across 6 cities (Jakarta, London, New York, Los Angeles, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore) over the past 27 years for education and work.
Shaped by a range of different cultures and experiences — my journey of growing up around the world ultimately led me to pursue a career as a User Researcher. I quickly learned that being a third-culture kid was a privilege in itself that equipped me with being able to assimilate, adopt, and adapt to customs in any country which I traveled to next.
So how has this experience shaped me as a User Researcher?
User Research is the art of interpreting life through the eyes of our customers. In order to understand our customers on a deeper level, we must build trust and mutual respect through listening to their stories, studying their thoughts, and empathizing with their emotions as they describe their personal experiences with our products and services.
As a User Researcher working at DBS Bank (Singapore’s Largest Bank) which operates across six different countries, I quickly learned that the level of digital maturity in each country varied. In order to ensure that the Digibank App succeeded across markets, it was key to learn the art of conducting user research across different countries and cultures.
Fortunately for me, two out of the six key markets that Digibank operates in are countries that I have a personal, and emotional connection with.
India is the country where my ancestors descended from, and where much of my heritage, religion, and culture stems from.
Indonesia is the country that my ancestors migrated to more than four generations ago, and where I now consider home.
The adventures begin…
On October 7, 2019, precisely one month after I joined DBS Bank, I was handed my first international assignment to conduct a customer value proposition study in Jakarta, Indonesia. As I prepared myself for the trip, I assumed that it was going to be relatively simple to unravel the different needs, motivations, and behaviors of our customers across segments in Indonesia.
On my checklist, I had to…
- Define the research objectives
- Identify the target segments and customers
- Coordinate logistics — travel, transportation, meeting venues
Soon after, on December 9, 2019 I was handed my second international assignment to conduct a similar customer value proposition study in Mumbai, India. This time, the nerves set in. Even though my ancestors are Indian, and my family is fourth-generation Indians living in Indonesia — I never had to speak Hindi professionally prior to this trip, which was simultaneously a nerve-wracking and thrilling prospect.
On my checklist, I had to…
- Define the research objectives
- Identify the target segments and customers
- Coordinate logistics — travel, transportation, meeting venues
- Brush up on my Hindi and practice my diction from Bollywood movies
- Identify a research partner to assist with conversing in Marathi
- Prepare my stomach for potential Delhi belly
Part 1: Indonesia
Even though I was born and brought up in Indonesia for the first 18 years of my life, I realized that operating in Bahasa Indonesia with customers was far more challenging than I had expected it to be. As a result of growing up there, I was well acquainted with slang Bahasa. However, I struggled to converse in formal Bahasa, as I had to be mindful that my tone was respectful, but not overly friendly in an attempt to maintain the seriousness of the conversations.
After one to two sessions, I learned the recipe for how to make it work. Although I would greet the customers in a formal tone, and offer them a cup of tea/coffee before we began the interview, I would spend the next thirty minutes in an attempt to build on the small talk to learn about their families, hobbies, and what they looked forward to most in the day. I would also ensure not to schedule any sessions during prayer time to avoid causing any disruptions to their day.
As this format helped to build trust with customers throughout the session, I learned that the warmth that you extend out as an individual is the same warmth and depth of conversation that you will invite back.
However, I did notice with certain male customers that it took a little longer for them to open up, which could have been due to my Indian appearance, gender, and relatively younger age, as I was expecting them to share their financial planning and investment habits. A cultural lesson that I learned was that this group of customers were more willing to talk if I had a male colleague of a similar age to them supporting me during the interview.
I also learned that limiting the interviews to one hour sessions was not ideal for our Indonesian segment as it took us close to thirty minutes to build rapport before customers felt comfortable sharing about their financial needs, goal setting, and investment habits.
Key takeaways from this experience were to…
- Where possible, leverage your language proficiency in the local tongue but have a local translator on hand to assist with the formal tone and to set the context
- Navigate gender-related barriers by having a similar gender/age translator with you when talking to older customers
- Allot more time to break the ice and allow interviewees to feel comfortable and safe before diving into sensitive topics
Part 2: India
Quite the opposite of Indonesia — in India, whenever I met customers for the first time, they would start speaking to me in Hindi or Marathi due to my outwardly Indian appearance. However, the minute I would open my mouth and pronounce Hindi sentences, they knew immediately that I fell under the “NRI Category” (Non-Resident Indian).
The beautiful part about this experience was that I was getting the chance to learn so much about Indian culture which I had not experienced living overseas. For example, in India — customers prefer to invite you to their homes to conduct an interview as they are more private in regards to speaking about their financial activities when confined to the four walls of their home. Most of the customers that we interviewed lived within joint family homes and participated in the interviews together with their parents, siblings, or a spouse.
Every home that I visited would offer me a cup of tea, and a warm snack regardless of the time of day to extend their hospitality. They would start the conversation by talking about their families, hobbies, favorite foods, and would suggest sights for me to visit around the city.
At the end of our one-hour interview sessions, most customers expressed the interest to bridge the gap from a client to a friend as they offered to show me around the city.
When I would ask to record the session at the beginning of the study, I noticed that a few customers tended to be more skeptical, however, by the end of the study, they were willing to take selfies as the bond quickly progressed to friendship. It was an extremely eye-opening moment for me to see how trust is built differently across the two countries.
Key takeaways from this experience were to…
- Be respectful when entering someone's home for the first time based on the specific cultural context (e.g. leave your shoes outside, accept a cup of tea and start the conversation by asking about their interests)
- Overcome the NRI stigma by discussing topics that are as exciting for locals (e.g. asking if they've seen the latest movie, or discuss a relevant topic in the local news)
- Build the bond from client to friend by asking them for suggestions on their favorite places around the city, and what makes their city magical for them (After the session many customers will ask for a business card or email address. 7 out of the 20 customers that I met with ended up writing to me to continue sharing their feedback more openly in the days that followed after the session)
I have been lucky enough to be able to be a third-culture kid, and my experiences have taught me the following which aspiring and existing User Researchers could look to as well:
1. Understand your customer and how much they are willing to share
If the nature of the customer is formal or timid, it may take longer to break the ice with them, and the amount that they are willing to share may also not be as much. It is important to build the bond with these customers by spending thirty minutes to build rapport, which you can do through asking about their families, favorite foods, or hobbies.
2. You get what you give
In most cases, I learned that the same energy that I emulated was the energy that I received back. If you share examples from your life with a customer, they will be more willing to open up and share stories about their experiences, pain points, motivations and frustrations as well.
3. Food is a bridge
Sharing a meal with a customer allows you to form a relationship with them much quicker and easier than meeting in a formal boardroom.
4. Important phases of customer interaction
Remember that the interview itself is not your only interaction with the customer. You need to be mindful to build the relationship in 3 phases:
- Warm greetings before you visit
- Building trust during the visit
- A follow up with a call/email after the visit which will build their willingness to share more information even after the visit
As a third-culture kid, I have been privileged enough to experience many different cultures, and develop the skills to quickly create a shared bond with others who may view me as an outsider. I learned that we are all deeply motivated and triggered by our goals, passions, and ambitions in life — and when you can build trust and respect with a customer, identify a trigger, and win their trust, they will open up themselves to you and share with you the feedback that you set out to discover.
