Case Study Motorola: Using conversational insights to guide ... - Parc

Case Study
Motorola: Using conversational insights to
guide new products
Ethnography in action
“PARC ethnographer expertise in conversation analysis is something we do not have training
in. My colleagues and I sought to understand the method, especially as it could be applied to
what we cared about: contributions to communication technology innovation. The findings
were persuasive and the process was efficient for our needs – we would gladly work with PARC
again.”
—Crysta Metcalf, Ph.D., Anthropologist & Manager of Experience Research, Motorola Applied Research Center
MOTOROLA
OVERVIEW:
Situation Analysis
Global communications leader Motorola enables advanced personalized services through its
mobile communications technologies. Their in-house anthropologist, in collaboration with PARC,
designed an ethnography-style study to investigate sharing practices among family and friends.
Motorola’s goal for this study was to develop communications applications for the U.S. market
that helped people maintain, and enhance, their social bonds.
Insight
Specializing in conversation analysis, PARC wanted to make people’s relationships to one another
visible by analyzing the way talk is organized and produced. Understanding that communication
technologies are blurring the boundaries between face-to-face and remote interaction, the
ethnographer identified interactional patterns (including “intimacy maps”) for how people –
especially those at the “hub” of the social group – were staying connected and managing their
social relationships through telephone communication.

Process/Methods
Using a combination of observation, photo and video diaries, in-depth semi-structured interviews,
and recorded mobile phone calls over 3 weeks, the Motorola and PARC team gathered data
among 5 social groups of varied demographics and geographic locations. The team applied
“grounded theory affinity analysis” to understand social network maintenance patterns such as:
what kinds of information, experiences, and content are shared; processes of sharing; and how
contexts affect sharing.
PARC also conducted conversation analyses across all the recorded phone calls, honing in on
openings and turns-at-talk. For example, the ethnographer identified tone and singsong voice
differences in more familiar relationships as opposed to the qualifying conversation tactics (“I
know you must be sick of hearing from me, but…”) used with less familiar acquaintances.
Results
If technology could identify who people were to each other – going beyond mere quantitative
data and mechanics of communications – then one could better tailor communication services to
users. As a result of their study, Motorola’s team identified a number of opportunities that shifted
commonly practiced engineering principles to human-centered design. These included moving
from: designing for the sender to designing for the receiver; designing for the mechanics to
designing for the message; and designing for sending facts to designing for sharing a story.
More Information
Business Development
engage@parc.com
A global center for commercial innovation, PARC (Palo Alto Research Center, Inc.) works closely
with enterprises, entrepreneurs, government program partners and other clients to discover,
develop, and deliver new business opportunities. Previously known as “Xerox PARC,” PARC
was incorporated in 2002 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX).
PARC, 3333 Coyote Hill Road, Palo Alto, California 94304 USA +1 650 812 4000 | engage@parc.com | www.parc.com
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