User Experience Professionals Association of Los Angeles

Name: Ethnographic Research Meetup for LA UPA
Start: 2011-05-25T02:00:00Z
Location: Edmunds.com

Ethnographic Research Meetup for LA UPA

May 24, 2011 · 7:00 PM
Edmunds.com

PARKING DETAILS for tonight's event!!!

Edmunds.com
[masked]th street (in the Water Garden)
Suite 400 South Tower
Santa Monica CA 90404

Park on the street (plenty of parking on Colorado Blvd or one block north on Broadway)

Edmunds building faces 26th street
Walk to the South Tower
Take the elevator to the 4th floor and you’ll see entrance to Edmunds offices

The Event

We have recruited four excellent panelists for this meetup. Discussion topics and case studies presented will include:

-An introduction to ethnography (what it is and how it’s done);

-Insights into how ethnographic research builds on (and goes beyond) focus group insights;

-How ethnographic research makes organizations better focus on their users; and

-How online ethnography can supplement or stand on its own as an effective way to gather user experiences.

About Our Panelists

Joan Afton
Joan specializes in user-centered research techniques for product and web design, conducting ethnographic research studies, usability tests, and focus groups. Studying users in context has allowed Joan to experience a range of home and work environments from Omaha and Manhattan, to Amsterdam and Bangalore. She has collaborated on several white papers, including "Tallying Votes; Counting on Design" about understanding the voting experience, as well as one about the needs of Independent Financial Planners.

Dr. Gary Frieden
Gary Frieden has been conducting qualitative research for over 25 years, as the principal of Frieden Qualitative Services. He has a Ph.D. in Psychology, and has developed a unique style of combining psychology with marketing research to arrive at deeper understandings. Gary has taught at USC, UCLA, and assisted teaching while in a graduate program at Stanford. He’s been a speaker at many national conferences, including ARF, QRCA, Burke, and the MRA, discussing his approach to qualitative. Combining traditional focus groups with ethnographies and online webcam groups, Gary has a lot to share.

Bernadette Irizarry
Bernadette Irizarry is CEO & Founder of Velvet Hammer Design. Dedicated to making technologies and projects that work, Bernadette Irizarry has led cross-disciplinary teams for almost 20 years and has developed products for the Aesthetics, Home Improvement, Media & Entertainment, Financial and Packaged Goods industries. Bernadette has helped her clients deploy solutions globally and enjoys partnering closely with them to bridge organizational rifts and clear the barriers that often stand in the way of business success.

Monica Zinchiak
Monica is lead analyst with Z. Research Services. An expert in online qualitative research methods, she has conducted over 800 focus groups, individual depth interviews, desktop interviews, online focus groups, immersion studies, contextual ethnographies and shop-a-longs. Monica’s foremost talent is innovative study designs for execution in the online environment.

Monica currently serves as Editor in Chief of QRCA VIEWS, the industry’s leading educational journal dedicated to the practice of qualitative research.

Our Sponsors

A special thanks to our wonderful sponsors for this event:

- Edmunds.com, our venue host
- 24/7, providing our refreshments for the evening
- Primitive Spark, sponsoring travel for out of town panelists

We look forward to seeing you May 24!

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Darwin F.

It was a very informative presentation, and all the speakers were top-notch in their field.
The catering was great too!

0 · May 25, 2011
Hilary B.

Excellent speakers, great hosts and sponsors, a terrific crowd. I think this was a truly great event (though I say so who shouldn't). Thank you everyone for making it such a success!

0 · May 25, 2011
A former member

The panelists were great. I am also an ethnographic researcher (as well as all kinds of other research) and agreed with just about all that they said. Please feel free to reach out to me if you want to discuss research ideas of any kind!

0 · May 25, 2011
Drey C.

All of it was fascinating - was especially interesting to learn about online techniques (which hopefully and eventually make this type of research more affordable, so that it can be available to smaller organizations, not just those with deep pockets).

0 · May 25, 2011
A former member

Very insightful, I enjoyed it

0 · May 25, 2011
Marie

It was very interesting. The overall presentations were really GREAT!

0 · May 25, 2011
A former member

Thanks to the knowledgeable speakers, the great sponsors and especially to Kathryn for an incredible event!

0 · May 25, 2011
John A.

Yes, interesting panel, good insights. THANKS!

0 · May 25, 2011
Theodore C.

My first meetup! Interesting panel and overall great experience! Thank you to everyone who made this happen :)

0 · May 25, 2011