UX Research
·
Concluded
Ended
January 2025
Ethnographic Observations of Online Grocery Consumer Processes
Multi-Sited Ethnography
Team-Based UX Research
Extensive Thematic Review
UX Research
·
Uploaded
January 2025
Ethnographic Observations of Online Grocery Consumer Processes
Multi-Sited Ethnography
Team-Based UX Research
Extensive Thematic Review
Introduction
Online grocery shopping is a deceivingly multifaceted user task.
about
In a group of 7, we were tasked with conducting a multi-sited ethnographic study on the situated, symbolic interactionism behind a topic of our own choosing.
Over a total of 9 households, we thematically analysed the results to uncover the underlying routines behind this natural consumer process.
Timeline
2 Weeks · Oct to Nov 2023
Client
MSc Human-Computer Interaction
Team
Team Project of 7 Members
with Credit to
Tutor · Andrew Crabtree | Team · Satyanshu Singh, Mahika Kapoor, Chengyi Liu, Xinglong Song, Kai Li, Radhika Joglekar
About
In a group of 7, we were tasked with conducting a multi-sited ethnographic study on the situated, symbolic interactionism behind a topic of our own choosing.
Over a total of 9 households, we thematically analysed the results to uncover the underlying routines behind this natural consumer process.
Timeline
2 Weeks · Oct to Nov 2023
Client
MSc Human-Computer Interaction
Team
Team Project of 7 Members
with Credit to
Tutor · Andrew Crabtree | Team · Satyanshu Singh, Mahika Kapoor, Chengyi Liu, Xinglong Song, Kai Li, Radhika Joglekar
about
In a group of 7, we were tasked with conducting a multi-sited ethnographic study on the situated, symbolic interactionism behind a topic of our own choosing.
Over a total of 9 households, we thematically analysed the results to uncover the underlying routines behind this natural consumer process.
Timeline
2 Weeks · Oct to Nov 2023
Client
MSc Human-Computer Interaction
Team
Team Project of 7 Members
with Credit to
Tutor · Andrew Crabtree | Team · Satyanshu Singh, Mahika Kapoor, Chengyi Liu, Xinglong Song, Kai Li, Radhika Joglekar
About
In a group of 7, we were tasked with conducting a multi-sited ethnographic study on the situated, symbolic interactionism behind a topic of our own choosing.
Over a total of 9 households, we thematically analysed the results to uncover the underlying routines behind this natural consumer process.
Timeline
2 Weeks · Oct to Nov 2023
Client
MSc Human-Computer Interaction
Team
Team Project of 7 Members
with Credit to
Tutor · Andrew Crabtree | Team · Satyanshu Singh, Mahika Kapoor, Chengyi Liu, Xinglong Song, Kai Li, Radhika Joglekar
Research Process
Our method of data collection shifted from real-time fieldnotes to audiovisual recordings.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Participants & Data
We recruited participants across 9 households, ensuring diversity in age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. Fieldwork took place over one to three days. Video footage was the preferred mediatype, to capture non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
Interaction Logs
We translated our audiovisual data into interaction logs, which were then divided into turn jobs for ease of analysis.
Thematic Analysis
We ran a 3-staged thematic analysis on each of the turn jobs from the 7 interaction logs. We grouped by interpretive processes, symbolic interactionisms, consumer methods, and related findings before arriving at our definitive findings specification.
Research Outcome
Compilation Report
We documented our findings into a 10,000 word report. Referred access required.
Key Findings
1
Interpretive Processes
Purchases were shaped by cultural preferences, household practicality, and emotional state. UX annoyances led to more frivolous spending. Household dynamics, like shared storage, influenced affordability, quality, and personal habits.
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2
Situated Actions
Many participants maintained lists based on their environment, such dual list systems or pre-shop inventory checks. Device also dictated shopping behaviors, with participants switching between phone and laptop based on convenience, or struggling with the limitations of her laptop-based setup.
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3
Consumer Methods
International students adapted by using translation tools in shopping lists. Many favoured Apple Pay for its convenience and security, while others used alternate bank accounts to manage spending. Temporal patterns emerged as participants planned shopping around schedule, showcasing how time shaped their methods.
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Impact
