--- title: "Simple Ethnography" description: "Participants silently observe frontline work or user activities in the field, follow up with brief clarifying interviews, and synthesize patterns using a progressive conversation sequence. They produce grounded opportunity statements to guide prototyping." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/simple-ethnography/" --- # Simple Ethnography Participants silently observe frontline work or user activities in the field, follow up with brief clarifying interviews, and synthesize patterns using a progressive conversation sequence. They produce grounded opportunity statements to guide prototyping. **Time:** 85 minutes. 85 minutes reflects a compact version of the 75-minute to 7-hour field window described in Liberating Structures source documentation. **People:** 4 to 24. Individual observers or pairs for fieldwork; pairs, quartets (or trios/quintets for non-multiples of 4), and full room for debrief. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Make informal routines, tacit behaviors, and friction points visible through direct observation and follow-up inquiry. **Use it when:** Use when a team needs grounded evidence about how people actually work, cope, or use a tool before designing process changes or prototypes. **Skip it when:** Skip when team members cannot access real operational sites or when the group wants rapid speculative brainstorming without empirical observation. ## Materials and tools - Notebook and pen per participant - One observation guide worksheet per participant - One pad of 3x3 inch sticky notes per quartet or small group - Flip chart easel, paper pad, and markers for central synthesis - Tablets or mobile devices with streaming capability (if running hybrid observation) - Access to a shared digital canvas or virtual whiteboard (if running remote or hybrid synthesis) ## Before participants arrive 1. Pre-work site checklist: identify potential field sites or host desks at least one week prior; obtain managerial permissions; notify frontline workers that observers will watch workflows without assessing performance; confirm observer safety and privacy parameters. 2. Identify enough observation locations or shadowing partners to accommodate all participants, up to 12 locations for a group of 24. 3. Print one observation guide worksheet per participant. 4. If using digital tools, configure the shared canvas board and test video streaming links prior to the session. ## Say this to open Today we will observe real practices as they happen. In your assigned site, watch silently first without offering advice or intervening. Note concrete actions, physical workarounds, and user reactions. Afterward, ask open questions about what the person was doing and feeling. Let us focus on what actually happens rather than what is supposed to happen. ## How to run it ### 1. Frame challenge and assign sites (5 minutes) Explain the core challenge and current operational assumptions. Read the opening script. Divide participants into individuals or pairs and assign each unit to a specific observation location or shadowing host. Hand out the observation guide worksheets. ### 2. Silent field observation (20 minutes) Participants move to assigned sites. Observers watch interactions silently without interrupting or offering advice. Observers record factual behaviors, physical movements, workarounds, and personal reflections on their worksheets. Stop promptly when the 20-minute alert sounds. ### 3. Targeted follow-up inquiry (20 minutes) Observers approach the individuals they shadowed. Observers ask two or three open questions to understand what the individuals felt, thought, and tried to accomplish during specific observed actions. Observers write down direct quotes and explanations. ### 4. Compare notes and find patterns (20 minutes) Reconvene all participants. Run a 1-2-4-All sequence: 1 minute silent self-reflection on key findings; 2 minutes sharing in pairs; 5 minutes synthesizing common themes in quartets (groups of 3 or 5 if totals do not divide by 4). For the final 12 minutes (the 'All' share), collect one prominent pattern per group onto the central flip chart with brief whole-room clarification. ### 5. Draft needs and opportunities (10 minutes) Working in their small groups, participants turn observed patterns into clear statements using the template: 'User needs [practical need] because [observed evidence], which creates an opportunity to [actionable idea]'. Each group writes at least two statements on sticky notes and posts them. ### 6. Direct findings to prototyping (10 minutes) The whole group gathers around the posted sticky notes. Participants group related needs into clusters. The room selects up to three priority opportunity statements to feed into immediate prototyping or solution design. Wrap up by documenting the selected statements. ## Debrief questions - Which observed behavior differed most from our prior assumptions? - What informal workarounds or positive deviations did you notice? - Which identified user need should drive our initial prototype? **Finished output:** A clustered set of written need and opportunity statements grounded in direct field observations, with two to three priority statements selected for prototyping. ## Remote For distributed contexts, conduct observation via shared screen shadowing, recorded task walkthroughs, or live video feeds from a remote workplace. Run the post-observation synthesis using virtual breakout rooms for pairs and quartets, posting opportunity cards on a shared digital canvas. ## Hybrid Pair an in-person attendee with a remote partner who observes the site via a tablet stream or live screen share. During synthesis, display the shared virtual whiteboard in the physical room so remote and co-located pairs contribute notes to the same board simultaneously. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may conduct stationary seated observations or shadow mobile roles based on mobility needs. - Anyone uncomfortable conducting verbal interviews may partner with a peer who asks the questions while they record written notes. - Participants may pass on speaking during the whole-room report. ## If the session gets stuck **Observers interrupt workers or start offering help and advice during the silent period.** Remind participants before departure that intervening alters normal behavior. Instruct them to write advice in their personal notes as an observer reflection instead of speaking it. **Observed workers feel evaluated or tested.** Confirm before starting that the study investigates process difficulties and tool design, not individual job performance. Ensure site managers are not using notes for appraisal. ## Terms used here - Positive Deviance: Uncommon, successful behaviors or workarounds that enable certain workers to find better solutions than their peers despite facing the same constraints. - 1-2-4-All: A facilitation progression moving from silent individual reflection, to pairs, to quartets, to whole-room discussion. ## Participant material: Simple Ethnography Observation Guide Part 1: Silent Observation (20 min) - What concrete actions is the person taking? - What tools, informal workarounds, or physical adjustments are used? - Where do delays, confusion, or friction appear? - Observer reflections (note your own reactions separately from factual actions): Part 2: Follow-up Questions (20 min) - 'I noticed you did [specific action]. What were you aiming to achieve there?' - 'How were you feeling during that particular step?' - 'What makes that part of the task smooth or difficult?' Part 3: Opportunity Formulation Draft at least two statements based on your field observations using this template: Statement 1: - User needs: [practical need] - Because: [observed evidence] - Opportunity: [actionable idea] Statement 2: - User needs: [practical need] - Because: [observed evidence] - Opportunity: [actionable idea] ## Sources and adaptation Observed in Liberating Structures by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless, who cite Chris McCarthy and ethnographers in the Innovation Learning Network as inspiration. Retained the core sequence of silent observation, follow-up interview, and progressive debrief from Liberating Structures. Adapted the original open-ended time range (75 minutes to 7 hours) into an 85-minute workshop session. Added a pre-work checklist for site logistics, clarified arithmetic for non-multiples of 4 during synthesis, added required hybrid/remote materials, and clarified the 'All' sharing stage of 1-2-4-All. [Liberating Structures](https://www.liberatingstructures.com/28-simple-ethnography/) [SessionLab](https://www.sessionlab.com/methods/simple-etnography) [Liberating Structures Menu](http://www.liberatingstructures.com/28-simple-ethnography/) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/simple-ethnography/