Abstract
Today's services are complex, multi-channeled and multifaceted influencing user behaviour and experience. User research is a critical part of the service design process. Unobtrusive user research plays a crucial role in service design, offering insights into user behaviour without interrupting or influencing their natural interactions. We discuss our findings and concerns related to conducting naturalistic observations in today’s complex service environments through two case studies. We also explored the use of current technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, behavioural analytics, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to observe service users in their natural environments. As an example, the paper showcases an AI-enabled image analysis to analyze an airport servicescape to identify service touchpoints, servicescape elements, overall service journey and user engagement. The paper discusses the benefits and limitations of using technology enabled unobtrusive research while being cognizant of the ethical considerations, privacy concerns and people rights.
Keywords
Primary data collection, Unobtrusive user research, Technology assisted user research, Observations
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/servdes2025.109
Citation
Ganwani, S., Gaikwad, S., Jeengar, R., Lobo, S.,and Mahamuni, R.(2025) Service Observer – Technology Enabled Unobtrusive User Research, in Mahamuni, R., Onkar, P. (eds.), ServDes 2025: Empowering Diversity, Nurturing Lasting Impact, 6–10 October, Hyderabad, India. https://doi.org/10.21606/servdes2025.109
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Service Observer – Technology Enabled Unobtrusive User Research
Today's services are complex, multi-channeled and multifaceted influencing user behaviour and experience. User research is a critical part of the service design process. Unobtrusive user research plays a crucial role in service design, offering insights into user behaviour without interrupting or influencing their natural interactions. We discuss our findings and concerns related to conducting naturalistic observations in today’s complex service environments through two case studies. We also explored the use of current technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, behavioural analytics, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to observe service users in their natural environments. As an example, the paper showcases an AI-enabled image analysis to analyze an airport servicescape to identify service touchpoints, servicescape elements, overall service journey and user engagement. The paper discusses the benefits and limitations of using technology enabled unobtrusive research while being cognizant of the ethical considerations, privacy concerns and people rights.