Ethnography Results Week 8

Sweet Eugene’s House of Java
Thursday March 31, 2011
7:15 – 9:15 pm

Quantitative
Totals for the evening:
Order drink to go: ? (I wasn’t in a good place to view this)
On Computer: 26
Reading book/ doing homework: 21 (defined as having book and/or spiral and pencil)
Working with computer and book: 7
Visiting: 12
Main goal to eat:  5 (these people read a book or used their computer until food arrived. Then they ate and left)
Eating and visiting: 0 (I didn’t notice as many eating tonight. It was a major study night.)
Playing cards: 0

Qualitative

My location
I sat in a new spot tonight - a popular spot that is always taken by someone on a computer who remains there the entire 2 hours that I'm at Sweet Eugene’s. The tabletop is clear with a bunch of pennies displayed underneath. It's a convenient spot since there is a bar right behind it that I can put my leftovers and drink on. It gave me a good view of the back of the coffee shop but there was a wall between me and the front.
 

My Crepe Fear - very tasty

My Food
 Since it was my last week coming for the ethnography (and since Alyssa had shown me a picture of the crepe she had for breakfast at Sweet Eugene’s), I decided to try out the food. I had the Crepe Fear. It was way too much food for me but it was really good. I recommend it to anyone who goes there. I also tried a new drink, the frozen green tea, and it was good. I wish I had tried it sooner.

The Employees
Two of the employees I did not recognize but the third I did. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and were talking loudly with each other.

The customers
I wrote about the general trends last week, so I’ll report on the few unique interactions patterns I noticed tonight.

The outlet, the hot commodity
Though not exactly unique, more than ever tonight (it was probably the busiest I’ve ever seen the place), the outlets were greatly sought after. As the place filled up, the tables near outlets were the first to go. One girl at a middle table had her power cord stretched out across a main walkway. It tripped several people almost including me. I remembered to watch out (after watching others trip on it) at the last minute.

Extremely busy
As I already mentioned, the place was busier than ever. I would say that nearly all the tables and couches were occupied by the time I left. A group of four came in searching for a place and had to break off into two groups to sit at small tables near each other since there were no places to sit together. Another group of four came searching for a table and discussed where they might sit. After some deliberation they decided to sit outside.

Somehow quieter than usual
Even without considering how many people were there tonight, the place was quieter than usual. When I think about how many people were there, it surprises me even more. There were a lot more people working alone tonight. Some of the groups of two people were sharing ipods – each using one ear bud. There were also a lot of groups of four or more. Usually people in groups spend most of their time talking, but tonight most people seemed to be working diligently.

Customer-Employee Interaction
I haven’t noticed much customer – employee interaction. I think one week I noticed an employee talking with several girls, but other than that, the most words I hear customers exchange with employees are the common pleasantries of “how are you” or some variation of that.

Tonight one of the employees was going around asking if people were done with their dishes and cups (something I’ve never seen before – were they running low on dishes or did he just choose to do that when there wasn’t a lot going on behind the counter?) and near the end of him asking everyone with empty cups, a girl spilt her drink. He offered to clean it up. She said she would. He insisted on cleaning up the puddle of coffee (luckily the cup was plastic). She insisted again and headed to the front to get napkins and mopped up the mess herself.

Ethnography’s effect on me
Dr. Gill mentioned that we should also note the effect the Ethnography has had on me.

Coffee Effect
I’ve never been much for coffee before this project. I don’t drink soft drinks, so the only caffeine I get is from tea. Usually coffee is my secret weapon: when I need to pull a late-nighter, I drink a cup of coffee and I’m good for another 4-5 hours. However, I’ve grown to like coffee a little more as a result of this Ethnography. I haven’t had to pull too many late-nighters where coffee was warranted (usually a deadline is all I need to keep me awake) so I’m not sure if drinking more coffee has increased my caffeine tolerance or not.

Public Study Spot Effect
I’m more of a study-at-home type. Other than the impulse to check my email often, I can usually ignore common distractions in the home. I thought I would be more distracted in a public environment, but even with the coffee shop as busy as it often is, I found it easy to focus the few times that I came there solely to study or work with my group. Even with the coffee shop as busy as it was near the end of my group meeting, I found it easy to focus. While I still prefer working at home, I think I might come to the coffee shop occasionally or at least go through the drive-thru to grab a java shake.

Ethnography effect
I’ve also noticed that I watch people more in other environments outside of Sweet Eugene’s. I recently went to a restaurant in downtown Bryan and found myself watching everyone’s interactions – some were impressed with the quality of the food, others surprised by the price, and some surprised by the selection – and I could identify how many were first-time customers and how many had come before. Even while shopping I note people and what they’re doing – like at Target when I saw a lady on her cell phone and carrying a baby. Usually I wouldn’t pay attention when I passed but she was angry and chewing out her husband for not coming home and going to some lake instead.

Ethnography Results Week 7

Sweet Eugene’s House of Java
Friday March 25, 2011
8:30-10:30pm

Quantitative
Totals for the evening:
Order drink to go: ? (I wasn’t in a good place to view this)
On Computer: 27
Reading book/ doing homework: 15 (defined as having book and/or spiral and pencil)
Working with computer and book: 4
Visiting: 9 (some of these appeared to have the intention of studying)
Main goal to eat: 9  (these people read a book or used their computer until food arrived. Then they ate and left)
Eating and visiting: 2 (they were eating but that did not appear to be the main goal based on how long they stuck around afterwards)
Playing cards: 4

The front part of the place seemed to be more popular than the back. I sat in the back, so I didn’t have the best view of the front.

Qualitative

Image taken from their Facebook Page

My location
I started out in the middle area where I sat for the first few weeks, but then I moved to an available outlet when I spotted one. Then I was in the spot at the very back of the coffee shop next to the back exit where I’ve been sitting the last few weeks. I couldn’t see the front very easily. I also wasn’t in the best spot to watch a great number of people without looking obvious.

The Employees
I didn’t recognize the employees (one guy and one girl) this time. One guy kept getting the girl to do all the work while he worked the register. The girl complained openly about how she shouldn’t be doing it because she was sick. I gave her a concerned look because she was saying this as she made my java shake. Then she quickly said, “I’m not sick. I’m just sick of him.” Hmm…

The customers
With this being the seventh week, I’d say most of the patterns in the space have been documented. While I did see four people playing cards again, which I have only seen twice, the typical reasons for coming to Sweet Eugene’s seem to be for studying and working in groups. A few come to visit and even a few for the soul purpose of eating, but the great majority that I see – at least in the evenings – are doing some type of school work.

The general patterns for people coming in fall into two main categories. They come in, head for the front to order and then seek out a seat or they come in, stake out their seat by putting their bags down and then go order. Typically people with computers first seek out tables along the walls where the outlets are and a lot of people check out the back room with all the Mona Lisa paintings first.

It’s not unusual for people to clean off a table so they can sit there, and once a dirty dish appears on a table, the table tends to become the designated dirty dishes table until an employee comes around to clean. I’d estimate that about half of the customers take their dishes to the front while the others either leave them on their table or move them to the “designated dirty dishes table.” My estimation is just that: an estimation. I haven’t been collecting quantitative data on that though it would be worthwhile in future studies.

Typically the place is quiet enough that no one seems bothered. That’s not to say that there isn’t noise. People visiting and working in groups talk a lot, but it’s not very often that the noise gets so loud as to distract/bother people.

In general most people respect the rule of not bringing in outside food though I have noticed a few groups over the weeks that have brought in a drink or Chick-fil-A. And typically every person that comes in buys something – usually it’s a drink.

Ethnography Results Week 6

Sweet Eugene’s House of Java

Thursday March 10, 2011
7:00-9:00pm

Quantitative
Totals for the evening:
Order drink to go: ? (I wasn’t in a good place to view this)
On Computer: 25
Reading book/ doing homework: 6 (defined as having book and/or spiral and pencil)
Working with computer and book: 2
Visiting: 14 (some of these appeared to have the intention of studying)
Main goal to eat:  2(these people read a book or used their computer until food arrived. Then they ate and left)
Eating and visiting: 2 (they were eating but that did not appear to be the main goal based on how long they stuck around afterwards)

Collected times for people who left (x means I don’t know when they arrived):
X – 7:27 (2 studying)
X – 7:44 (2 visiting)
X – 8:11 (2 studying – 1 was a tutor)
X – 8:15 (1 on computer)
7:08 – 7:44 (2 visiting)
7:07 – 8:10 (3 watching youtube videos)

 (Many other people came in or were already there when I started and did not leave before me. There were not as many people as there had been during week 5, but it was a fairly busy evening.)

Qualitative

My location
My fiancé, Jesse, and I couldn’t find a place near an outlet and a lot of the tables were dirty, so we ended up sitting on a couch until we spotted two girls beside an outlet preparing to leave. Jesse got some napkins and cleaned off the table the best he could. This evening was probably the dirtiest we had ever seen the place.

Once we moved to the outlet, we were in a spot at the very back of the coffee shop next to the back exit (the same spot as last week).

The Employees
As already mentioned the place was dirtier than usual. There were dirty dishes and trash on a coffee table in front of me, on tables to my right and left, piled along the bar at the window and on at least three different tables in the other rooms. An employee did come and clean but not until almost 9:00, meaning many of the dirty dishes sat around for 2+ hours.

The customers
To Clean or Not to Clean
While ordering drinks, I noticed a girl who came and hesitantly put her plates beside the cash register at the front.

All the dirty cups and plates on several different tables seemed to encourage customers to add their dirty dishes to the pile. The two women who were at the table we later claimed even pushed dishes aside at a table already stacked with dishes to make room for their cups.

I noted at least two people besides Jesse who cleaned off a table so that they could use it.

A place to watch music videos?
Three girls came in and sat on a couch at about the time we arrived and seemed to be watching youtube videos the entire hour that they were there.

Eating Chick-fil-A

Image from: constructbirmingham.wordpress.com

A guy in a suit and a girl sat near us with their Chick-fil-A bag. One had a coffee. I’m not sure whether they were discreet with their Chick-fil-A bag up at the front or not, but they were very open about it in the back room where we were even though there are signs requesting that we not bring in outside food or drink.

Differences from last week
The place was pretty busy and much dirtier than I have seen it before. This was the first time I saw people openly eating food they bought somewhere else.

Ethnography Results Week 5

Sweet Eugene’s House of Java

Friday March 4, 2011
9:00-11:00pm

Quantitative
Totals for the evening:
I noticed only 2-3 people who fit into the older age group. The rest appeared to be college students.
Order drink to go: ? (I wasn’t in a good place to view this)
On Computer: 17
Reading book/ doing homework: 8 (defined as having book and/or spiral and pencil)
Working with computer and book: 7
Visiting: 19 (some of these appeared to have the intention of studying)
Main goal to eat: 6  (these people read a book or used their computer until food arrived. Then they ate and left)
Eating and visiting: 2 (they were eating but that did not appear to be the main goal based on how long they stuck around afterwards)
Playing cards: 4

Collected times for people who left (x means I don’t know when they arrived):
X – 10:00 (2 people eating)
X – 10:00 (2 people eating)
X – 10:18 (4 visiting)

 (A LOT of other people came in or were already there when I started and did not leave before me. I’d say 30+ people who were there at 9:00 were still there at 11:00. It was also harder to pinpoint when other groups left due to my location.)

Qualitative 

Image taken from campaignkerusso.org

My location
I was in a spot at the very back of the coffee shop next to the back exit. I couldn’t see the front very easily, so my results were a little different this week. I also wasn’t in the best spot to watch a great number of people without looking obvious.

The Employees
This time there was only one employee manning the counter when I ordered my drink. I’ve noticed the employees haven’t asked me if I want my drink in a glass since Week 1. It seems most people get plastic cups now unless they’re getting a hot coffee. I wonder if this is to cut back on cleaning.

The Experience
I sat in a new spot this week and began the evening by working with my group on the second project. It was the first time I was at Sweet Eugene’s experiencing the environment as a study environment rather than a people-watching environment.  The experience was actually fairly productive. Paola pointed out that the lighting was a little bad for working in a notebook, which I totally agree with. I probably wouldn’t go to Sweet Eugene’s to read unless I was confident I could find a table next to one of the brighter lamps. We also had to clean off a table to get a table near an outlet. Something else I noted was that the Internet would slow down periodically throughout the night – perhaps because of all the people with computers?

The customers
Sticking around for a long time
Too many people to recall stuck around for a long time, many of which were there before I started observing and did not leave until sometime after me. I also fell into this category of people sticking around for a long time. I met with Alyssa and Paola for three hours before doing my ethnography for two.

Trusting Customers
This week was the first week in which I noticed a girl hesitating to leave her bag and purse unattended. The guy who was with her said, “You can bring it with you if you want.” She decided to leave it.

Using Internet from the car
I noticed one guy sitting out front in his car with a laptop in his lap from 10:15-10:37. The guy in the passenger seat went inside, ordered a drink and came back out around 10:30.

Playing Cards
I also noticed a group of 4 playing cards up near the front. I was really excited to realize that I knew one of the guys. I believe he goes to Sweet Eugene’s fairly often, and he has agreed to let me interview him. I’ll likely include that in next week’s results.

Differences from last week
There were a lot more people here than I had seen before. The place was packed to the point that a couple sat at the bar seats in the middle of the shop where I have never seen people sit before.

Ethnography Results Week 4

Sweet Eugene’s House of Java

Saturday February 26, 2011
9:15-11:15am

Quantitative
Totals for the morning:
Order drink to go: 12
On Computer: 5
Reading book/ doing homework: 12 (defined as having book and/or spiral and pencil)
Working with computer and book: 1
Visiting: 26 (some of these appeared to have the intention of studying)
Main goal to eat: 23 (these people read a book or used their computer until food arrived. Then they ate and left)
Eating and visiting: 2 (they were eating but that did not appear to be the main goal based on how long they stuck around afterwards)

Collected times for people who left (x means I don’t know when they arrived):
9:24 – 9:44 (2 eating)
9:25 – 9:53 (3 eating)
X – 9:51 (3 eating)
X – 9:52 (3 visiting and eating)
X – 10:04 (2 visiting)
9:54 – 10:07 (4 eating)
X – 10:15 (2 eating)
9:56 – 10:24 (3 eating and visiting)
10:00 – 10:28 (2 eating and visiting)
10:33 – 11:00 (2 eating)
9:23 – 11:10 (1 on computer)
X – X (the regular on her computer)

(Several other people came in during the time I was there and never left. Actually, most came in near the end of my stay and I left before them. Most I assume were there for lunch.)

Qualitative
My location
Near the center of the large room, allowing for a view of everyone in the large room that was in front of me and limited view (don’t want to look too obvious) of the area behind me. I also had partial view of the smaller room where some couches were.

The Employees
This time there were two employees, one of which I recognized as a guy I saw my first couple of weeks at Sweet Eugene’s. A girl came up after us and he asked her if she wanted her usual vanilla java shake. She replied that she wanted to try something different today.

The customers
To clean or not to clean
I noticed a different pattern this week. Some young and some old put their dishes away. Some young and some old left their dishes on the table. I also noticed that the older ones who did put their dishes away (3 couples) tended to put their plates on the bar rather than in the designated area. But they were close.

Popular tables
Same as the other weeks, the same tables tended to be the popular spots. Two interesting things to note: The table I’ve designated as the window table had two girls visiting. They left their dishes, and as they were getting up, a lady and girl who have just gotten their drinks and ordered their food headed for the table and cleaned it off themselves so they could sit there.

I also noticed that as the place got more crowded, people would head to the back where I cannot see, glance down into a different room and then loop back with disappointed expressions on their faces. I haven’t sat in this area since it doesn’t allow me to view much of what is going on, but it seems to be a popular area.

Sticking around for a long time
Only the regular (a girl on her laptop) stayed the entire time.

A place to bring the family
I noted seven different families that had young children. Six of the families had children under the age of about 7 while one family had a child who was likely middle school or early high school age. I would often note parents of the young children toting them around in their arms just to entertain them. They would walk one way, then the other and go back to their table/couch.

Trusting Customers
As usual people left their stuff unattended, but one person I would like to note was a girl who left her backpack (with her computer in it) unattended from 10:16-10:43. I believe she was outside on her cell phone for most of this time and then in the bathroom.

Objective Unknown
I watched one guy enter Sweet Eugene’s through the back door, walk around through most of the rooms, then leave without ever ordering anything or talking to anyone. He had a backpack so I’m assuming he had been intending to meet someone there to work, but I’m not sure.

The Atmosphere
The regular sat to the right of three people visiting. A man at the table was talking quite passionately about politics. As time progressed I noticed the regular leaning further and further away from that table as if the volume bothered her. After they left the regular settled back into her seat.

The girl and lady who cleaned off the window table just so they could sit there were one of the loudest groups I’ve heard. The girl talked openly about relationships. I also noted her saying, “In College Station you can’t throw a rock and not hit a girl who…” [she got quieter for the last part. I’m not sure if she ended that sentence rudely or not.] I later heard her talking about a friend who has a problem with micromanaging her kids. I sat fairly far away from this table, so I was surprised I could pick up on so much of her conversation. I even overheard her conversation on her cell phone with her new employer. She starts training at a new workplace March 21.

At one point someone behind me was watching a video on their ipod. There was a lot of screaming in the video. After a minute or so of this (lots and lots of screaming), I glanced back to see who it was. Then the girl diagonally across from me who was studying looked. Then the guy to my right on his computer looked one after the other. I guess the ipod owner noticed us because the screaming finally stopped.

Differences from week 3
I visited the coffee shop in the morning this time, so there were several differences. I noticed a lot more families and a lot more older people (non college student, high school type crowds). Plus, I stayed from 9:15 to 11:15, so I noted a lot more people coming to Sweet Eugene’s to eat a late breakfast or an early lunch.

Map of Sweet Eugene's my fiance drew while I took notes. Click it for bigger view

Ethnography Results Week 3

Sweet Eugene’s House of Java
Friday February 18, 2011
4:52-6:52pm

Quantitative
5 people appearing over the age of 30 were there at some point. The rest were younger looking.

Totals for the evening:
Order drink to go: 4
On Computer: 8
Reading book/ doing homework: 6 (defined as having book and/or spiral and pencil)
Working with computer and book: 2
Visiting: 16 (some of these appeared to have the intention of studying)
Main goal to eat: 2 (these people read a book or used their computer until food arrived. Then they ate and left)
Eating and visiting: 4 (they were eating but that did not appear to be the main goal based on how long they stuck around afterwards)

Collected times for people who left (x means I don’t know when they arrived):
X-5:04 (1 visiting with group of 4)
X – 5:08
X – 5:09 (guy visiting with another on the couch)
X – 5:12 (computer)
X – 5:12 (three older people visiting)
X – 5:27 (2 girls visiting – laughing really loud)
X – 5:29 (guy and girl visiting)
X – 5:49 ( 2 visiting with group of 4)
X – 6:00 (2 visiting)
X – 6:07 (2 guys studying together)
X – 6:12 (computer)
5:34 – 6:16 (studying)
5:37 – 6:34 (visiting outside)
X – 6:51 (homework/computer)
5:46 – X (Guy on computer, then meeting up with other guy later in the evening)
X – X (Girl first visited with a group of 4, then they all left and she remained to work on computer)

 (Several other people came in during the time I was there and never left.)

Qualitative

Image taken from Sweet Eugene's Facebook page

My location
Near the center of the large room, allowing for a view of everyone in the large room that was in front of me and limited view (don’t want to look too obvious) of the area behind me. I also had partial view of the smaller room where some couches were.

The Employees
This time there were three employees, one of which I recognized as the blond guy from last week. The other two were girls and one seemed to be training the other. There was a short line when we got there, so we didn’t get to interact with them as much this time. My fiancé did go get a second drink and asked if the $.50 discount (on refills) could be used on a different coffee and they said yes.

Getting the word out through messages on the tables
Under the glass of our table I noticed a paper asking people to vote Sweet Eugene’s as Best BCS Coffee Shop. Last week I noticed the paper invited people to like Sweet Eugene’s Facebook page. I’m curious to see how often this changes.

The customers
To clean or not to clean
There were two groups of people over the age of thirty. Both these groups left their tables dirty. This matches what I observed last week.

I also noticed that a louder group of people under the age of 30 left their stuff on their table. However, one stayed behind and moved to a different table. Then when she ordered food (more food? – I’m not sure whether she ate with the group or not), she cleaned off the group’s table. This occurred about 30 minutes after the rest of the group had left.

Popular tables
4 tables that had appeared popular last week were popular once again this week. 2 couches in the area back behind me also seemed to be popular, each having 2 different sets of guests use them during the evening.

One purchase or multiple?
I noticed 3 different girls go back for second drinks (one of which might have gone for a second meal).

Trusting customers
I noted nine customers put their bags and computers down and leave them unattended for 5+ minutes to go order or take a phone call or use the bathroom

Sticking around for a long time
This week did not have as many people as last week, but I still did note one girl who stayed the whole time (first she sat with a group visiting and then she moved to a smaller table by a window and ate and worked on her computer).

Another girl who was there when I got there stayed until about the time I left. She was always working on a computer, first with another girl and then by herself.

Coming to meet/work with a group
I noticed a lot more group interaction this week and people meeting up at Sweet Eugene’s to work. Five different groups of people met up during the two hours I was there and 2 -3 other groups were already there when I arrived. I distinguish these groups from the groups visiting because they had moments when they were quietly working and they all had either books or computers out.

The Atmosphere
There were less people here this week which gave me more time to appreciate the atmosphere. Windows line one side of the building, allowing for an open feel. However, the smaller rooms allow for a cozy atmosphere and several walls act as dividers in the larger room to allow for a sense of seclusion while still giving the customers a view of the outside.

The smaller crowds allowed for the crowds that were there to be a little more open. Two groups seemed to be talking louder than I recall from last week and I noted two people singing along with the background music during the night.

Differences from week 2
There seemed to be a lot less people this week, and the ones who came in did not seem to stay as long as those that came in the week before. I did not recognize any faces aside from one of the employees.

I’m guessing there were less people around because of the Baseball and Softball games Friday night. If I’m right, then next week might also be less busy but the following week (March 4) may be busier since I don’t think there are any games that Friday.

I also noticed – now that the weather is better – that people went outside more. I noticed three girls with Bibles possibly having a Bible Study outside and a guy who sat smoking on a bench outside for a while.

Ethnography Results - Week 2

Ethnography Results Week 2
Sweet Eugene’s House of Java

Friday February 11, 2011
5:00-7:00pm

Quantitative
7 people appearing over the age of 30 were there at some point. The rest were younger looking.
Totals for the evening:
Order drink to go: 4
On Computer: 12
Reading book/ doing homework: 20 (defined as having book and/or spiral and pencil)
Working with computer and book: 4
Visiting: 14
Main goal to eat: 3 (these people read a book or used their computer until food arrived. Then they at and left)

Collected times for people who left (x means I don’t know when they arrived):
X – 5:25 (3 girls talking)
X – 5:34 (older group talking)
5:14 – 5:34 (couple talking)
5:44 – 6:28 (2 guys eating)
X – 6:01 (girl on computer)
X – 6:10 (guy on computer at the counter)
X – 6:42 (on computer)
5:52 – 6:49 (book)
X – 6:55 (computer)
X – X (couple talking)
X – X (computer and book)
(A lot of other people came in during the time I was there and never left.)

Qualitative 
My location
Near the center of the large room, allowing for a view of everyone in the large room that was in front of me and limited view (don’t want to look too obvious) of the area behind me. I also had partial view of the smaller room where the couches were.

The Employees
Upon arriving, my fiancé, Jesse, and I went straight to the counter to order. When I asked what was in the Iced Chai, the employee made a point about the secretiveness of the business. He also admitted that he did not like tea so he couldn’t really tell us whether it was good or not. I ordered the iced mocha.
A blond employee came over while the other made my drink. Jesse asked them to whip him up whatever was good. The blond asked, “Do you like oreos?” The other, already done making my drink, said, “You do today.”

A different employee came to clean some of the tables that were left dirty. She didn’t bother anyone who appears to have empty mugs on their table.

The customers
To clean or not to clean
Of all the people I saw, three groups were made of people over the age of thirty. All those groups left their tables dirty while everyone else put their cups where on a tray at the counter to be cleaned. Whether this is due to negligence or just not knowing what to do, only time will tell.

Popular tables
4 tables that were occupied by one person or group were occupied by a different person or group by the time we left, leading me to believe that these tables are popular though I’m uncertain why. 3 of the tables were up against walls while the last was out in the open.

One purchase or multiple?
Of everyone I saw, only one girl appeared to have gone back multiple times. She had 2 coffee cups and a plate with a half-eaten muffin on it.

Enjoy the environment or shut it out?
I noticed one person using headphones for much of his time at Sweet Eugene’s.

Trusting customers
I noted at least eight customers put their bags and computers down and leave them unattended for 5+ minutes to go order or take a phone call or use the bathroom

Searching for seclusion
Focusing only on the people in front of me (about 10-15 depending on when), about ½ of the groups took to tables or seats that did not have someone right beside them. One girl walking with two other people asked as she passed, “Where do you want to sit?” A guy in the group replied, “Preferably away from people.”

Sticking around for a long time
One guy who had been at Eugene’s since I arrived moved his computer from one table to another that was beside a wall to plug in his computer. This happened an hour into my visit and tells me he had been there for a long time. He left a few minutes before I did.

Three other people stuck around the entire time we were there. One appeared to be doing homework and had only one mug on her table. She had a computer and books. The other two sat at a table next to a window and talked the whole time. Jesse and I left before they did.

From Sweet Eugene's Facebook Page

Ethnography Proposal - Final

You can find our final proposal on Paola's blog.

Ethnography Results – Week 1 - Trial - Mall Kiosks

Blue box: less crowds Red Box: more crowds

I spent 2 hours switching back and forth between observing two different vendors.

Quantitative Results
Female vendor at kiosk selling skin care products:
2 attempts to engage shopper in which she got their attention but they declined
2 attempts to engage shopper in which shopper ignored her
Total vendor sales: 0

 
Male vendor manning three kiosks:
Sunglasses kiosk:
0 attempts to engage shoppers but 7 successful sales
1 sale lost since he was busy with other customers
7 successful sales
Hair styling product kiosk:
10-12 attempts to engage shopper in which he got their attention but they declined
5 attempts to engage shopper in which shopper ignored him
2 successful sales
Shirt kiosk:
0 attempts
1 possible sale failed since he was busy with other kiosk so shopper left
1 successful sale
Total vendor sales: 10

Qualitative Results
Since I wasn’t sure if there was a specific format for this, I decided to give this a little narrative flair.

After my time at the mall on Saturday watching vendors man their kiosks and make a few sales – or none at all – the first conclusion I came to was that these vendors are not as lively as the ones in Houston, which left me a little disappointed.

While many of the vendors sat in their chairs with their eyes glued to the screen of their computers or their ears glued to their cell phones, I spotted one vendor walking back and forth behind her kiosk showcasing salts and skin care products. It was situated down the way from Macy’s. This part of the mall did not contain the swarms of people that seemed to congregate only closer to the food court or down by Auntie Anne’s pretzel shop. The vendor had her work cut out for her.

As groups of people pass by, likely drawn to the area by a car on display back behind the kiosk, the vendor looks to each shopper’s eyes in search of anyone willing to make eye contact. Meanwhile the shoppers keep their eyes straight ahead, likely glued to that shiny new car. Suddenly the vendor catches a customer’s eye, and the vendor attempts to initiate. She holds up her hands as if reciting a prayer and utters several words I cannot hear. The shopper turns away as if suddenly enthralled by the blank wall to her right.

The vendor’s jaw snaps shut and she begins to search again. She walks back and forth behind her kiosk never quite making it to the front side. Whether she does this to give potential buyers a better view of the kiosk or does this as a way to hide behind the tall cart, I am not sure. All I do know is that she is trying much harder than the majority of the vendors who never make eye contact and never make any attempt to initiate. (I did not spend any time on this trial run observing the vendors doing nothing.)

The vendor appears to get frustrated. She calls someone on her cell phone, but the conversation is short. Twice while I watch her from a bench feigning interest in a videogame my fiancé is playing while I observe the vendor and take notes, the vendor leaves her kiosk unattended only to come back several minutes later. While she’s gone I notice that shoppers pass more closely by the kiosk and pass even in the small space between it and the shiny new car.

Curious when the vendor leaves a third time, I follow her and discover she’s friends with the only other lively vendor I’ve seen in the mall today. He wears a scarf, wields a brown comb and appears to be manning three kiosks at once. The girl does not stay with him long. They exchange a few words – possibly words of encouragement because the girl appears pretty ran down by this point – and then she heads back.

I stand by to observe the guy with the scarf. He mans one kiosk laden with hair straighteners and curlers, another with sunglasses and another with shirts all side by side. I learn quite quickly that the sunglasses kiosk is the happening place.

“Curly tired to initiate,” my fiancé reports, alluding to a guy with brown curly hair, as I scribble down some notes. “Blondy stands waiting with him.” Blondy and Curly remain for a moment, then leave, losing interest since the vendor is talking to two other shoppers.

This vendor seems to have an easier time at least with the sunglasses kiosk. For several minutes shopper after shopper approaches him about the sunglasses and picks out a pair. When the crowd thins, he returns to the kiosk with hair styling products. He’s quicker to greet people, and here the halls seem narrower and more crowded, making it harder for a shopper to ignore him. It’s also much closer to the food court. The vendor also seems to be screening his shoppers, targeting the women and girls with glossy straight hair or carefully styled curly hair.

He waves the comb at a few shoppers. Some merely shake their head and move on while others stop to listen to him. Very few, about five out of the twelve or so shoppers I saw him initiate with, flat out ignore him. One girl seems to take a great interest in a hair straightener after he waves her down. However, once he pats a black hair resembling the ones found in salons, the shopper shakes her head and continues on.

During this particular event a couple of people gather at the third kiosk with shirts. He quickly makes a sale and returns to the first kiosk. A couple of times the vendor gets on a white phone attached to the kiosk. A few minutes and several sunglasses sales later, a new vendor appears and takes over at the sunglasses kiosk, giving the vendor with the scarf and brown comb more time to focus on the hair styling products kiosk which he does. (I rarely ever saw him at the shirt kiosk nor did I see shoppers there.)

Meanwhile, the female vendor who hasn’t had much luck with her kiosk continues to search for eye contact. The short phone calls on her cell phone or the phone attached to the kiosk increase – one call per every five minutes to a call every one or two minutes. The calls are short and in between those times, the vendor walks behind her kiosk. Once she approaches a shopper with her hands palm down in front of herself to ask the shopper to show her her nails. The shopper complies and for an instant the vendor’s shoulders lift with this possible sale. Then the shopper glances towards the kiosk and shakes her head.

The crowds are thinning around both vendors I’m watching, so I decide to make one last pass by them. I’m surprised to find them both on the phone, the white one attached to their kiosks, and after what I’ve seen I believe they might have been on the phone with each other, but I am not certain.

Conclusion
Based on everything I watched, I am uncertain how so many of the kiosks stay in business. The vendor with the scarf made plenty of sales, but the female vendor made none that I saw even with the effort she was making. The other couple of vendors I watched less closely made no efforts and as a result made no sales.

After this trial observation, I am not sure whether it would be worthwhile to continue or not. On the one side, I did pick up on a couple of different techniques that the vendors used and an interesting relationship between some of the vendors I would not have noticed otherwise. However, many of the vendors did nothing but sit. Only two appeared actively working while a select other few stood staring at their computers rather than sat. Coming at a few other parts of the day or on a few different days may yield better results but it all depends on the vendors.

Ethnography Proposal – The Trial Run – Mall Kiosks

I plan to work with Alyssa Nabors and Paola Garza, but for the first week we plan to each try our own ideas individually to see what kind of data we can gather. We will then post a final, complete proposal Thursday February 10 outlining what we decide to do as a group.

For this trial week, I’m going to sit on benches at the mall and watch the interactions between the kiosk vendors and the shoppers. I plan to see how the vendor tries to get the customers’ attention and what works and what doesn’t. I’m also interested to see how the shoppers react. I want to see if they flat out ignore the vendor, say ‘no’ nicely, say ‘no’ rudely or just flat out avoid them. Do the crowds of shoppers part like the sea?

To study them I intend to sit on benches near the mall kiosks or stand near them.

Quantitatively, I plan to see just how many shoppers react in certain ways (ignore, feign interest, buy the products, etc) and how many vendors use different techniques (spray the people with perfume, drive a little remote control car around to catch attention, stand around, etc.).

Qualitatively, I’ll be watching to see what works for the shoppers and vendors (how well does saying “no” to the vendor vs. ignoring them work, how well does having the vendor just stand around vs. interact with the customers work). Perhaps even patterns regarding time will play a part. Maybe the vendors will try harder at the beginning of their shift rather than at the end or vice versa.

As far as how I will interact with the shoppers and vendors, I will likely just be an observer. Or if I see a vendor trying especially hard but making no sales, perhaps I’ll go right up to them and buy their product. Maybe.

I’m not sure what mall kiosks currently exist at the mall, but I plan to observe 2-3 kiosks, preferably with vendors that use different techniques to promote their product. To better assure I see the same vendors, I plan to go during the same time each week and one of the days on which I observe will definitely have to be Saturday since the mall is busier then.

Ethnography Ideas

Comments
Evin Schuchardt - http://csce436spring2011.blogspot.com/2011/01/ethnography-ideas.html
Stuart Jones - http://stuartjchi.blogspot.com/2011/01/ethnography-ideas.html

These are some ideas for the ethnography project:

1.)  Walmart late at night - In my creative writing class last semester we got on the topic of strange people you see at Walmart between 12am and 5am. My professor spoke of a time when he ended up following around a rather large lady being supported by two kids, one on either side. Alternately the children would go and pick up an item for the woman. As one child ran to snatch up an item, the woman would begin to topple over. Then the child would race back and catch her before she fell over. My professor couldn’t help but observe the strange family. Needless to say, the discussion strayed away from the narrative style of some poem we were assigned to read to all the strange people my classmates have seen at Walmart. Interestingly enough, there is a website dedicated to the topic that I never knew about: http://www.peopleofwalmart.com . So perhaps we could study people at Walmart late at night.

2.) People at the dog park – Back when I lived with my sister, we would often take her dogs (one of which is posing with me in my profile picture – his name is Skipper) to the dog park. There I would often see people who treated their dogs as their children. They would proudly showcase their pets and share stories of their dog’s biggest blunders. While I mostly just saw dogs in fancy collars, I believe I did spot a few over the months wearing sweaters or some kind of Halloween costume during October. Perhaps we could watch how they interact and see what patterns emerge.

3.) We could also do some people watching at just about any place in town: different fast food places, bars, coffee shops, grocery stores or the mall. Depending on the place and the time of day, we might pick up on some interesting patterns in the people. At some stores we could see how many people use checks vs. debit cards or how many use coupons or the shopping ad. At the mall we could see how many people are shopping for clothes vs. entertainment vs. other.

4.) Branching off on the Walmart idea, we could also compare the people that go to different places: like Walmart vs. Target or Kroger vs. HEB.

2-1-11(edit)
Two other ideas I have would be to either sit along different roads and see how many people are texting, talking on cell phone, eating, smoking, etc. while driving. The other idea would be to have two team members walking along on campus. One drops something. A third team member would see if anyone picks up what the person dropped and if they make any effort to get it back to the person who dropped it.

A person spotted at Walmart in costume