Conducting UX Ethnographic Studies in Portugal: Weevil Labs Weekly Report

Week 8, February 26th — March 5th

Objectives

We’ve had a very busy week collecting data and some of our high level goals included 1) planning our research trips, 2) continuing ethnographic research, 3) preparing our findings for the next stage of synthesis and 4) meeting with the branding and operations agency recently hired by our client.

Actions

Meeting with the Branding and Operations Firm

We prepared a brief presentation and set of questions for the recently hired firm. Our team met with them and went over the MHCI program at CMU, our Hunt Statement, and wanted to gauge what their strategy was going into the launch of the hotel. The meeting went well and the head of the team offered to put us in touch with a few of the hotels they manage in Lisbon, Lisboa.

They seemed to want to focus on the tourism experience in Madeira and wanted to bring a younger audience to the island through the Hotel Gorgulho. They also seemed very open to giving us access to their operational staff at the hotels they manage. Overall, the meeting was successful and we’re looking forward to growing the partnership.

Ethnographic Observations

Guided Activities — We split up to participate in guided activities to understand the tourism landscape on the island.

Mountain Bike Tour

Mike, The Research Lead, zooming down the hills of Madeira

Pico Ruivo — The tallest peak on the island. Many active runners come to the island to run to the top and back down.

Trisha (Tech Lead)and Miki (Visual Design Lead) hike to Pico Ruivo with their friend Stephanie.

Blandy’s Wine Tour — An attraction in the heart of the city and lead producer of Madeira wine.

Tour Guide explains the properties of Madeira wine, how grapes are harvested, and how the fermentation process happens

Tourist Interviews — We walked around various part of Funchal to informally interview tourists and collect information

Fly on the Wall Observations — Each team member chose one or two hotels from our competitive analysis spreadsheet to visit and understand the service touch points at these competitor hotels

Research Trips

The team has decided to split into two groups to visit London and Lisbon to do innovative hotel research. Hotels have been chosen on the basis of implementing the latest technologies, age demographics staying at these hotels and destinations that make the most sense to study. Because we now know many tourists visit the island of Madeira from the UK, we’ve opted to study hotels in London.

A few hotels on the mainland in Lisbon are also using innovative service apps to provide personalized experiences to guests. We aim to study these services and see where we can brainstorm design ideas using this information.

Research Presentation & Synthesis

At the end of the week, we met to debrief on primary and secondary research findings through our ethnographic interviews (guided activity and tourist interviews), fly-on-the-wall observations, literature reviews.

Next Steps

We’ve now transitioned fluidly into primary research gatherings and we intend to continue in the next phase.

Tasks:

1. Finalize research trip bookings to London and Lisbon

2. Ongoing Lit Review with a focus on tech landscape

3. Contextual Inquiry — Affinity Diagram — synthesizing tourist, staff, operations processes and patterns

4. Competitive Analysis — Understanding where we are competing and where we can compliment the hotel ecosystem on the island

5. Prepare our Research Presentation