#12 User-centred research and analysis

What is it?
User centred research is an excellent way of building a more holistic picture of the needs and experiences of service users.

How can I use it?
1.    Ethnography
Ethnography is a research technique used by anthropologists where they immerse themselves in the lives of their research subject. Ethnography allows researchers to observe the participant in an environment where they feel comfortable and allows them to build a more comprehensive picture of their lives than they would get from a one-to-one interview in a neutral venue. By interviewing people in their homes, or neighbourhoods, the ethnographer can pick up on influences and motivations for behaviour that would have been unlikely to come up in a more structured interview. It also eliminates the discrepancy between professed and actual behaviour.

2.    Day in the life of…
'Day in the life' of studies quickly capture the experiences of subjects. It can be a great way for local authority policy officers to gain a different perspective on an issue they are grappling with. By shadowing a frontline worker for a day they can develop an understanding of the problems affecting residents or service users, and points of tension within the system.

3.    User Journey Mapping
User journey mapping tracks a typical customer’s journey through a service. It captures common behaviours and contact between the customer and the service provider. The findings can then be analysed and the local authority can make improvements where it sees bottlenecks or tensions.

Where has it been used?
SILK – Daddy Cool
Working with the Seashells Sure Start in Sheerness, Kent, SILK developed ‘Daddy Cool’ a programme for fathers to come together and meet other fathers in their community. The programme evolved after a study carried out by SILK, in which it asked residents about gaps in services, revealed that they wanted opportunities to create more social networks. The report also revealed that children and families services were focused on the mother and child, and often left out the needs of the father.

Teenage pregnancy in Lewisham
Like all local authorities the London Borough of Lewisham has to meet the government target of halving the teenage pregnancy by 2010. The local authority felt it did not have a comprehensive understanding of the factors that led to unplanned teenage pregnancy. In the summer of 2008 it asked the Young Foundation to research teenage pregnancy from the perspective of young people. Using ethnographic research methods the Young Foundation carried out 14 'day in the life of' studies and more than two dozen one-to-one interviews with expectant teenage parents, teenage mums and dads, to build a detailed narrative of their lives and experiences. The research was presented back to the council in a seminar where new interventions were also work shopped.

More information?
•    Guardian supplement on social innovation for more case studies