Digital Ethnography- Studying UX Across Devices

Ethnography, the study of other cultures, is a branch of Anthropology. Ethnographic research is typically conducted by a person enveloping themself within a community to become a part of and gain a personal understanding of that culture. I have taken on the role of digital ethnographer for the past 9 months by daily driving multiple computers/phones to find what unique features consumers are getting with their purchases. While my research may not be comprehensive, my finding that the smallest changes can make all the difference is a universal truth.

Devices

Altogether, I have been using two phones, four laptops, and a desktop. My phones were an iPhone 7 and Google Pixel 5. I should mention that the Pixel did not have a SIM card, but I have had extensive experience with Google’s Messages app. My computer lineup includes my desktop running Windows 10, a Dell Inspiron 15 7000 running Windows 10, another Dell laptop running Windows 11 supplied to me by UTSW, a Surface Go 3 running Windows 11, and a 2017 13” MacBook Air running Monterey MacOS.

Studying UX- Mobile

I started this experiment when I was peer pressured into using an iPhone for iMessage due to Apple users’ underdeveloped understanding of messaging protocols. Not willing to shelve my Pixel, I carried around both phones and set out to find what made each device special. Even though both phones are so far apart spec-wise, I think I still have a good understanding of each system's unique offering. My iPhone was a pickup-and-go device that I didn’t need to configure at all. As soon as I signed in with iCloud, my device was pretty much setup. It was also less compatible with my non-Apple devices though. My Galaxy Watch and Windows computers saw little interaction with the device. I can’t completely blame Apple for this since the watch’s compatibility is a joint failure between Apple, Samsung, and Google that is a potential topic for the future. My Pixel on the other hand worked great with my Samsung watch and earbuds but needed more of a setup. Because of the way I use Google accounts, it wasn't as simple as sign in and go because I needed to make sure all my accounts were accessible on my device but also that they were not conflicting with each other.

In terms of computer compatibility, the iPhone obviously worked with MacOS, and the Pixel worked with Windows. With both being unable to connect to the other OS. I would give Android and Windows the win between the two since the Window’s phone link app has greater mobile control, not only being able to see messages but seeing all mobile notifications and control them as well. The same cannot be said for the iPhone whose notifications only appeared if the app was downloaded on my Mac and synced through iCloud. This was at least the case for my devices.

Studying UX- Computers

I was surprised to see how much of an impact the physical design of devices had on my workflow. The keyboard layouts, touchpad quality, screen size, and weight changed the way I used each device. The computer I pulled out of my backpack changed the way I would go about a task. My big and clunky gaming laptop had me opening several windows and multi-tasking across multiple virtual desktops. On my Surface Go I would close a window before opening a new one, keeping a minimalist workspace and switching between tablet and laptop mode without thinking. My desktop was my machine for work and play. If I wanted to watch a movie or write a paper, I preferred it to be on my big display with my nice peripherals. Even with the aging hardware inside it, my desktop is where I feel like I can do anything. On my MacBook, I found myself swiping away on the trackpad. The keyboard took some getting used to, but the feel grew on me over time, and I found myself preferring to type on it over other devices at times. I fell in love with the MacBook's touch controls which somehow felt more natural than the ones on Windows.

That point leads nicely to the differences between devices’ operating systems. This is what initially drove me to extend this experiment to computers as I had been curious about the user experience on MacOS for some time as a lifelong Windows user. I quickly adapted to the quirks of using an Apple machine and even found myself navigating to the left corner of my Windows devices looking for traffic light-colored icons. Safari’s tab navigation is so much fun to navigate with that I found myself able to do more quality research on Mac because I wasn’t afraid to open more tabs. The biggest annoyance was how unpleasant window management was on the OS. I found it hard to multitask since applications seemed easier to navigate when taking up the whole screen. Being forced to have the Apple default apps on my device frustrated me. Being unable to get rid of Apple’s calendar app meant I got all notifications twice because it synced with my Google calendar. This fact continues to drive me crazy. On the Windows side, I had less of a learning curve which leaves me with less to discuss. Windows 10 has been my friend since its release and will probably remain my preferred OS until it loses security support. I like the tiles on the start menu and the sharp edges on the windows. Windows 10 fits my picture of what a computer OS is supposed to be. My workflow for everything feels optimized and I know that I am usually a Google search away from fixing any problem I encounter. Windows 11 on the other hand has its strengths as well. Window management on Windows 11 is the best of all computer OSs. The more Mac-like design unconsciously makes me feel like the machine is less versatile than a Windows 10 machine. However, this may also be due to the roll-out of Windows 11, which is a subject for another day.

Limitations

This experiment wasn’t done perfectly. In an optimal scenario, I would be using current devices that are all running comparable hardware. However, this would cost a lot of money I don’t have so I had to settle on using a series of devices varying in age and specs. The spread of devices may also have damaged my experience with some device's features. I arguably became a jack of all systems, master of none. I might find myself head over heels in love with Windows 11 if all my devices were running it but that would prevent me from experiencing what else the market had to offer. My surface-level observations only offer qualitative data. I, unfortunately, don’t have metrics on how the length of tasks varies between devices or how my brain activity changes depending on screen size. This is not to say that this experiment’s findings aren’t valid but that they are very subjective and have the potential to be biased.

Conclusions

The biggest takeaway I have gained from this experiment is that people will think you are a dork when you carry around so many phones and laptops. The second biggest takeaway is that all these operating systems have their own quirks that can either be useful or annoying for users. The way a user's experience can be changed by small things like tab navigation in a browser was extremely interesting to me. Perhaps I will find myself with more up-to-date devices in the future that allow for a fairer comparison and allow me to make more concrete conclusions. Until then I will continue to enjoy my current selection of electronics and attempt to make more UX observations.

I spat out a lot of scattered information in this article that I hope to later revisit later and give more granular detail. The topic of Mac vs. Windows or iPhone vs. Android has been done to death, but I haven’t seen anyone take this exact approach and wanted to give a quick high-level overview of my experience and findings.