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FIGURE 4. ETHNOKEN editor with some completed segmentation, color-coded by user. Clicking on a segment pulls the associated interpretation into the editable field.
Users can collaborate to categorize and assign hierarchy to segments, and check the visual map of their analysis to see how larger patterns are emerging and discuss agreement or ideas on these findings.
FIGURE 5. Set browser, where users can look through the sets, which are groups of segments tagged and organized by theme.
The team can remotely build a report wiki, including embedded video and images to serve as the client deliverable, which will keep the process on schedule and fully collaborative even while team members are separated by time zones and miles.
Use case III: guiding the client.
This tool also allows the team to direct the experience and exposure of the client or external partners through controllable access to media files and limitable editing capability. For example, researchers can choose to allow any individual to view video footage only once it has been analyzed, to help guide the client away from drawing conclusions that may be biased by previously held beliefs or organizational orthodoxies. The team can also choose to assign a “read-only” status to such users, allowing them to participate in discussions, make comments, and view selected material, but not permitting them to edit or alter the work. This gives the researchers critical control to manage the amount and timing of exposure client users experience, allowing the team to create and stick to an effective communication strategy, as discussed earlier, to ensure real understanding, cooperation, and effective dissemination of the research.
Use case IV: growing knowledge.
This research team exists within a larger consulting company, and they know that they can answer the client’s research question more quickly and save time and money if they could just access the relevant data from old projects. In ETHNOKEN, the team can search through their entire project history to find answers and topics of interest, profiting from the organized access to the work they’ve already done and avoiding redundancy. The information they find in their old data doesn’t answer all of their questions, but it helps shape the new research question and narrow in on a direction, streamlining the planning and saving time that can be used on increasing the scope of the project. The findings can build on previous knowledge to have a stronger impact than if it had to start from scratch.
FIGURE 7. Search results, showing the available filters for focusing a broader, cross-project search.