Karolina Kania, Ethnographic researcher

"Taking off our own cultural glasses is crucial to gain genuine insights during the research process" recommends Karolina Kania

Design Anthropologist and UX Researcher, Karolina Kania is passionate about Ethnographic research, an approach that she has been using extensively for over ten years. Assistant Professor at Faculty of Business Administration at VŠE in Prague and Insights Department Lead at B&T Lab, Karolina is connecting the worlds of academia, business, and the third sector organisations. When we met in a local café in Prague, she shared with me her unusual journey and the experience she gained from working in different sectors.

I am curious about your journey to becoming an Anthropologist working in business. From my point of view, it's quite unique.

Looking back at my journey, I realize that the choices I made were quite logical, even though they didn't seem that way a few years ago.

I studied anthropology. I did my bachelor's in Poland at University of Silesia. Then I left for France to pursue my master's degree. I come from an academic family. My both parents are university professors. I was immersed in the academic environment for a long time, almost my entire life. For me, it was quite logical to follow the same path. My parents were not pushing me into it, as they are well aware of the reality of working in academia.

I was really passionate about research, so I continued my PhD in France because of the great intellectual environment and favorable conditions for students and young researchers. My school, EHESS in Paris, offers a wide range of grants and scholarships. I was lucky to receive a research grant during my Master's. It allowed me to go to the South Pacific, to New Caledonia, for a field work. This wasn't the first time I've conducted ethnographic fieldwork, as I had to complete several research projects during my ethnology studies in Poland. Since the first year of studies, we have been going to the field, even if it was just another village in our neighborhood. We start with this basic ethnographic method, and we learn by doing.

This ethnographic experience in New Caledonia was life-changing for me because I decided to pursue this experience further, and my PhD also focused on tourism development in New Caledonia.

How does your passion for research connect with your other experiences and activities you had during your studies, such as journalism?

I was, and I hope I still am, a very curious person who did a lot of different things and tried many different activities. In 2012, I started writing a travel blog (https://www.ethnopassion.pl/), I have been publishing articles in different Polish newspapers, for seven years I have been involved in producing festival TV during the " Kino na Granicy / Kino na hranici" film festival in Cieszyn / Český Těšín. But I have never considered that being a journalist could become my full-time job. It was more of a hobby for broadening my interests and meeting interesting people.

In high school, I went to France on an exchange with AFS, a non-profit organization that offers intercultural learning opportunities. You can go abroad for three months, six months, or an entire school year. You will stay with a host family and attend a local school. Exchange students rarely stay in big cities. Usually, during their exchange they live in a small town or a village and get to know a very specific context, culture, and language. This exchange changed my life. I think I wouldn't be here today without this experience. It was not only an eye-opening experience for me, but also a world-opening one. After this exchange there were no borders for me. Suddenly, I was 16-17 and had friends from Japan, Argentina, Paraguay, and South Africa. From countries I heard about only during geographic classes, and I could put them on the map, but that was all. And suddenly, I started learning about other cultures, languages, and people's lives, and it still stays with me today because it's somehow connected with what I'm doing now. The exchange was the first milestone on my journey to where I am today. I strongly recommend it to everyone.

At what time did you decide to dedicate yourself to research?

I think it was during my Master's. What fascinated me the most was conducting in-depth ethnographic research. Spending several months doing fieldwork, getting to know local context, diverse perspectives on a given topic. I spent a year and a half in New Caledonia, learning about challenges related to tourism development on indigenous territories, and immersing myself in the Caledonian context.

While doing my PhD, I was aware that the subjects you study and the skills you acquire, are important, but so is your ability to adapt to different circumstances. I always had this thought that I can adapt and if I need to learn something new, I will learn. For example, if I need to modify my career path, then there is no problem, it's not a failure but an opportunity to discover something new. I am driven more by curiosity, openness, and flexibility to adapt than by fear.

How do you conduct research in different cultural settings?

I think it's crucial for researchers, or designers who run research activities, to be open to the unexpected and be aware of any prejudices and assumptions we may have. We can't avoid biases, but it's great to be aware that we have them.

When I was on the AFS exchange, on intercultural workshops I heard that it's important to take off our cultural glasses. Cultural glasses represent the invisible, yet influential lenses shaped by our own cultural backgrounds, experiences, and societal norms... These lenses affect how we perceive and interpret the world around us. I think it's the same for us, UX or Service Designers and Researchers, who on the one hand need to be open to social or cultural context we are working in. On the other hand, we need to be aware of biases we have coming from given countries, speaking given language, growing up in given culture. I try to have this approach, to take off my own cultural glasses, while running research, cooperating with colleagues from different countries, different cultures.

I am wondering what are the differences between UX Research, CX Research and Ethnographic research?

UX and CX research are more directly focused on improving products and services, not only digital, but also physical ones. Ethnographic research provides a deeper dive into the underlying factors that shape behaviors and preferences. Ethnographic method is used by UX and CX Researchers. The ethnographic method used in user research involves immersive observation and having in-depth conversations with the study participants.

At B&T Lab, we conducted research on the decision-making process of parents when purchasing school bags for their children. I tried to meet with interviewees at their homes, where not only parents could share with me their experience, but also children could show me which bags they have, how do they use them, what do they like and dislike about them, they even painted for us a "school bag of their dream". The simple interviews turned into lengthy discussions and observations that were incredibly insightful for our project.

What's the importance of ethnographic research methods in UX and Service Design?

I think it's super interesting for people who are learning Service Design and Product Design, to become familiar with various methods and approaches. Designers often have to conduct research on their own because not all companies have dedicated UX Research departments.

What's important in ethnography is going to the field, whether physical or digital, and immersing yourself in the subject, culture, and context to gain insights that will help you make informed decisions related to the product or service you are designing.

There is a very famous quote of Margaret Mead (Margaret Mead - Wikipedia), American anthropologist, who said that "What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things". And ethnography helps us to better understand other people, their perspectives and check if they really do what they say they do, and why.

I think you don't need a PhD in Anthropology to conduct research [laugh]. You can learn it by doing. I love experiential learning, and of course you need to invest time into it, you need to explore different methods and approaches. But then you can try and do it by yourself.

I strongly agree that it is always useful to ask and check the facts of what people think, say or do. And what about cultural differences?

It's important to recognize and understand the diversity among cultures. We can support ourselves with various tools, models, and frameworks that help us better understand other cultures, such as Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions (Geert Hofstede - Wikipedia) or GLOBE. Of course, these models have a simplified view on cultural differences and have their limitations (in case of Hofstede's framework it is equation of cultures with nation states), but if you are a Researcher or Designer and you start working in a context that is unfamiliar to you, it's important to learn about it step by step. Even within Central European cultures, such as Polish and Czech, there are significant differences that directly impact customer behavior. These differences are often overlooked by companies expanding into one market or another, who use copy-paste approach thinking, that it will work, and then they are very surprised it does not.

How was your transition from academia to business, as we speak about research as a connection of these two areas?

It was surprisingly smooth [laugh]. I was completing my PhD, and I felt exhausted from working alone all the time. I did some courses and workshops on UX Research and UX Design and I got my first position at Creative Dock, a venture builder in Prague. I was hired by an anthropologist, so perhaps he was more conscious of the value that a person with ethnographic experience can bring. I remember that during my job interview we were talking about our field work experiences, I was relieved. I found myself in a dynamic and supportive environment, where you can learn by making mistakes.

I have academic colleagues who see quitting academia as a failure and believe that there is no way back once you leave. For me, transitioning from academia to business has been challenging, but also very refreshing. But after a year or so I realized that I'm missing academia, scientific research, contact with students and other researchers.

After completing my thesis (in autumn 2021), I thought it would be very hard to get a postdoc or to secure a position, especially here in the Czech Republic, since I'm not a native speaker and don't have a strong network. I found out that the Faculty of Informatics and Statistics at VŠE will be offering a new specialization in UX Research and Design. I have proposed to lead the UX Research course, which I have been involved in (alongside Jan Balata) for the past three years.

Last year in September, I was appointed Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Business Administration at VŠE. I am grateful to Professor Ladislav Tyll for his support and encouragement in offering Design Anthropology courses to FBA students. Working in parallel in the B&T Lab gives me an opportunity to learn how to adapt academic expertise to business realities and challenges. It allows me to combine different approaches, experiences, and passions.

This experience has shown me that it is possible to take a step back and connect working in business and academia. I believe that this is very valuable, especially because I feel that these are two separate bubbles that could and should be more interconnected.

That sounds interesting! How it could be done?

I try to create interconnections between academia, business, and NGOs through different projects I am engaged in. I look for other people who do that already, or who are open to cooperation.

For instance, our students taking the UX Research course work on real projects during classes. Instead of doing imaginary or abstract work, we look for non-governmental organizations that need support with qualitative research. Throughout the whole semester, students engage in various research activities for NGOs. Usually, these organizations don't have the budget to pay for this type of research, so the output we provide is very valuable.

How difficult is it for you to perform all the activities you have mentioned?

Engaging in everything with 150% dedication can be quite challenging. I have experienced burnout twice, and it has made me realize the importance of mental wellbeing. Also, the support and advice we can receive from more experienced colleagues is invaluable. I really believe that the biggest value is in sharing, caring about each other and trying to go beyond our bubble.

If you can compare getting out of the bubble and getting out of the comfort zone, is it different for you or is it the same?

I think it's related, encouraging us to grow and learn. "Getting out of the bubble" for me is more about gaining new perspectives and challenging our views of the world. We can do that by engaging with diverse ideas and people, as we do with our students running research for NGOs. On the other hand, "getting out of the comfort zone" is for me about challenging (sometimes even pushing) ourselves to do things that are hard or uncomfortable. Everyone has different notion of comfort, different fears and limitations, so "getting out of the comfort zone" can bring various personal or emotional challenges. I believe it's worth trying!

When I was preparing myself for our interview, I have seen your conference speech on YouTube about your ethnographic experience in New Caledonia. I have seen your website (karolinakania.pl) and Instagram account where you post. What is your motivation to do all that?

Ten years ago, I started writing a travel blog https://www.ethnopassion.pl/ and I've been writing it quite actively till pandemic. Now I am more active on Instagram, where I try to share my experience of being an Anthropologist working in business.

Thanks to my blog and Instagram account EthnoPassion (@ethnopassion) I have met many great people. Sharing my stories there has helped me expand my network. It's also a great opportunity to learn. I began by writing travel posts, and after a few years, I started to publish reportages in Polish magazines. One interactive story we did with Outriders is actually available in English: https://content.outride.rs/en/new-caledonia/). Now, with our interconnected world, it's easy to communicate with someone who lives and works on the other side of the world. It's amazing to share with others what we do, but also get inspired and learn from each other.

I am grateful for the interview and for sharing your interesting experience, Karolina. I wish you all the best for your next challenges!

Useful links to share:

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research | Differences, Examples & Methods (scribbr.com)

Designing A Better World With Don Norman | by Nataliya Sambir | UX Planet

Ethnographic Research: What is it, Types, Methods + Pros & Cons (questionpro.com)

Ethnography: UX Research Methods for Discovery (userinterviews.com)