Ethnography: observing people in their natural environments to understand their needs.
你有没有过一个人静坐在公共场所,认真的看人来人往,观察人群十分钟或以上。
Today, I'm going to tell a story about this particular experience.
这是我在巴斯的一个故事,那天的记忆久久不能抹去。心中一直有一个圣诞的铃铛,它在脑海里,在心里,也在愿望里。
It was last year, on 22rd December, at Bath Station.
It's coming to Christmas day, the whole streets were decorated with brilliant lights. Those lights with warm light made the whole city full of Christmas atmosphere. I visited this city with myself and I finished the joinery around 6pm, but my train back to London was at 8pm. I walked back to the train station and sat down on a bench next to a girl who was holding something like a cigaret in her hand.
There is a huge Christmas bell in the middle of the square, just at the exit of the rail way station, people who came out from the station were immediately attracted by this bright huge and warm bell.
I sat there and watch them.
First, there were a group of middle-aged people gathered in the bell and wanna to take a group photo, they tried to take a selfie first, but them one of them stood out and took a picture for the rest of them. The rest of them asked for him to join them, he turned around and looked for help from a passerby. They laughed and talked, the passerby would very happy to help them. And after the passerby took the group photo, they checked the photo together and moved away happily. A daughter and her mother came out from the station, and the old lady wore a wind coat with a pair of pink shoes. Her silver hair caught my eye immediately because she was perfectly matched with the silver colour. She looked so young, she stood straight in the bell and her daughter stood in a couple miles away to took a picture for her. Her daughter asked to her moved right slightly. the old lady did that and moved slightly and kept smiling. I really wanna to take a photo for them, they reminded me of my family members. there are a bunch of young people came from another side, they were waiting to take a photo in the bell. they crushed into the bell, the girl in a maroon hoody stood in the middle, she wore a short jeans with a pair of white sneakers. They laughed so hard at the smartphone, I reckon that she must be the soul of this group. After that, a couple came from the opposite of the street, they were whispering with each other. The women wore a black high heel boots and a black jacket, she looked so cool. Her boyfriend kept down to the ground and took a photo for her, she smiled with love in her eyes. They checked the photo together, and the man hug her in his chest, they went away happily. There were two Chinese girls waiting on the steps, one of them with a huge 28 inches luggage. She took of her camera to her friend and asked her friend to took a photo for her. She was a little bit tired with her hug luggage, but when she stood in the bell and looked at the camera, she smiled sweetly and looked so nice. I still sat there, the girl sat next to me stood up and walked towards the bell, I thought she wanna to take a photo. She passed by the bell and hugged with a boy who walked from another direction. They came to the bell together and asked the people before them to take a photo for them. they crowded with each other and smiled. After that, the boy offered a help to took a group photo for the person who helped them. They talked with each other and gave wishes to each other. They went away.
I don't know how many people took a picture in the bell on earth, but I do know that this bell recorded a lot of happy memories. I will not add make more changes about how to use technology to help people take group photo by themselves. I like the communication among strangers and the happiness they gained form help each other.
That is the most attractive thing for me about Christmas.
You will more likely to help others when you were in good mood.
ethnography是指通过观察人们的行为(不干涉),进一步去探索人们的需求。人们很少能说出引发问题的真正原因,需要你去观察,去看他们到底被什么所困住,去观察那些已经习以为常的东西。
这是相应的ted talk链接,喜欢的话,可以去看看:Ethnography: Ellen Isaacs at TEDxBroadway https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV0jY5VgymI