Stereotypes aren’t all bad

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4 years ago

Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Anthony Coombes

For designers, stereotypes act as a jumping-off point for understanding an audience.

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We can better understand buying patterns, influences, tastes and channel preferences. Mapping how much, when and where the interactions happen.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSplitting the pack and analysing the percentages only reveals an effect, it will not reveal the cause. Or, to put it another way, numbers tell us what people do and how much they do it but it doesn’t tell us why. It’s also uncertain what they will do next.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eAnticipating behaviour\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMapping trends isn’t as reliable as it might seem. Nokia used to be a giant with a loyal customer base. Famously it didn’t see the iPhone tsunami until it hit. Their projections weren’t able to figure things out until it was too late.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHaving a persona in mind is a good way to bring a customer segment to life. It feels more immediate and you start to care about the future for them. Personas help inform our decisions and gain a wider perspective. We can get to know the attitude and predictability of a certain type. We can also check our own biases against them.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eIsn’t it misleading?\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStereotypes are exaggerated personas which play on a cultural bias. However, they can reveal the learnt behaviours that go unchecked. Unspoken rules and common practice that we assume as normal or “just what we do”. Like forming a queue, how a group splits a restaurant bill or how we spend a Sunday. Stereotyping can reveal the importance of family, our beliefs or position in a hierarchical order. These are often passed down through generations and built into a community without question.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eTurning Japanese\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a student I took a year out to live in Japan. At first it was a shock, scenes from Bladerunner played continuously in my imagination. I wanted to enjoy the extremes, hitting late-night karaoke pods and eating live fish. I looked for quirks and strangeness.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter a few months I acclimatised. I began to notice the similarities with English life. An island mentality, independent, polite, with a romantic view of tradition and a strong sense of continuity whilst pushing for innovation and creativity, a dry wit and an enjoyment of the tea ritual. Luckily they also drive on the left.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI did notice some subtle differences. Japanese people pull towards themselves rather than away. Traditional hand saws cut in the opposite direction to what I was used to. This was something that frustrated me when I took on a job as a furniture maker in Tokyo.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Japanese people relax they go small and fold in on themselves. Unlike westerners who lounge and stretch out. Everyone in Tokyo wants new things and houses are rebuilt every 20 years. Tiny parking spaces are filled with cars that fit exactly. Japanese cars themselves are full of interesting details but somehow the whole is less than the sum of the parts.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy biggest insight was when I returned home. Suddenly English people looked the same. There were definite tribes who collected in pubs and on street corners. Accents became more pronounced and seemed to me to be marking territory. I returned to the Midlands, where a shift in your twang tells others which side of the M6 you’re from. Yam Yam or Brummie.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eIdentifying subcultures, tribes and outliers\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCurrently I am getting to know the differences between the Army, Navy and Air Force for a communications toolkit.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI’m learning to recognise fish heads and Jack Tars; bootnecks and cabbage heads; squaddies, pongos and grunts. Also Betty Windsor’s Flying Circus, Crab Air and the Brylcream Boys.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The Navy guide their ships using stars, the Army sleep under stars and the RAF choose their hotels using stars.”\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s already clear that to get different audiences to see themselves in marketing communications then you have to speak their language. The wrong expression or terminology will show that audience your true colours.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eHow to define stereotypes\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere is a quick and entertaining exercise that was shared with me by the ethnography team at Ipsos Mori. It’s a template to define stereotypes.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eBeing typically Danish\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIs:\u003c/em\u003e being patriotic \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cem\u003eAlways:\u003c/em\u003e cycling everywhere \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cem\u003eThink:\u003c/em\u003e that Swedish people are weird\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cem\u003eIs afraid of:\u003c/em\u003e eating non-organic food\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cem\u003eLoves: \u003c/em\u003eschnapps \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cem\u003eHates: \u003c/em\u003ebad lighting\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cem\u003eAlways says: \u003c/em\u003e“hygge”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eOr being typically English\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIs:\u003c/em\u003e being a gentleman\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cem\u003eAlways:\u003c/em\u003e apologising\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cem\u003eThinks:\u003c/em\u003e that it was better in the old days\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cem\u003eIs afraid of:\u003c/em\u003e nobody and everything \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cem\u003eLoves: \u003c/em\u003ethe French life\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cem\u003eHates: \u003c/em\u003ethe French people\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cem\u003eAlways says:\u003c/em\u003e “sorry”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThanks for taking time to read this. I really appreciate it. If you like the piece, give it a “clap” and help others find this article.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eP.S. sorry it wasn’t shorter 😉\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fupscri.be%2Ff51076%3Fas_embed%3Dtrue\u0026amp;dntp=1\u0026amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fupscri.be%2Ff51076%2F\u0026#038;image=https%3A%2F%2Fe.enpose.co%2F%3Fkey%3DdRXnS9Gplk%26w%3D700%26h%3D425%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fupscri.be%252Ff51076%252F%253Fenpose\u0026amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07\u0026amp;type=text%2Fhtml\u0026amp;schema=upscri\" width=\"800\" height=\"400\" frameborder=\"0\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/media/b85dfbb5286d8a25cf2e754b9462cf45/href\"\u003ehttps://medium.com/media/b85dfbb5286d8a25cf2e754b9462cf45/href\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed\u0026amp;referrerSource=full_rss\u0026amp;postId=556fc1aa6c5b\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" alt=\"stat?event=post.clientViewed\u0026amp;referrerSou\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://blog.prototypr.io/stereotypes-arent-all-bad-556fc1aa6c5b\"\u003eStereotypes aren’t all bad\u003c/a\u003e was originally published in \u003ca href=\"https://blog.prototypr.io\"\u003ePrototypr\u003c/a\u003e on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.\u003c/p\u003e\n","seo":{"metaDesc":"","canonical":"https://prototypr.io/blog/stereotypes-arent-all-bad/","opengraphModifiedTime":null,"opengraphPublishedTime":null,"opengraphTitle":"Stereotypes aren’t all bad - Prototypr | Prototyping","opengraphDescription":"Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End \u0026mdash; Medium Anthony Coombes For designers, stereotypes act as a jumping-off point for understanding an audience. https://medium.com/media/67b8c4b5395a13d54c13c7800e174812/href Segmenting a potential user group, audience or customer base, helps target different sorts of people. We can better understand buying patterns, influences, tastes and channel preferences. Mapping how much, [\u0026hellip;]","opengraphImage":null},"link":null,"date":"2018-04-26T09:32:25.000Z","legacyAttributes":{"link":"https://blog.prototypr.io/stereotypes-arent-all-bad-556fc1aa6c5b?source=rss----eb297ea1161a---4","imgUrl":null,"ogImage":"https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1200/1*LIlntozomhfPEFQ5VZkXOw.png"},"ogImage":{"opengraphImage":null},"tags":{"data":[]},"legacyFeaturedImage":{"id":"3119","mediaItemUrl":null,"thumb":null},"featuredImage":{"data":null},"relatedArticles":[{"localizations":{"data":[]},"title":"From Photography to NFT Art: Twisted Digital Landscapes with Nate Hill","slug":"from-photography-to-nft-twisted-landscapes-with-nate-hill","legacyFeaturedImage":null,"featuredImage":{"data":{"attributes":{"url":"https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/strapi/8d8070381d986c2f80b500cdb024f518.png","formats":{"large":{"ext":".png","url":"https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/strapi/660d5848c774dd76de059e2754a7344f.png","hash":"660d5848c774dd76de059e2754a7344f","mime":"image/png","name":"large_Crossover Series NFTs.png","path":null,"size":453.71,"width":1000,"height":500},"small":{"ext":".png","url":"https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/strapi/c0b4b2eaabf40327313a30b374c2ac2a.png","hash":"c0b4b2eaabf40327313a30b374c2ac2a","mime":"image/png","name":"small_Crossover Series NFTs.png","path":null,"size":125.2,"width":500,"height":250},"medium":{"ext":".png","url":"https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/strapi/2346793057dd9a854f38fca4ef47a068.png","hash":"2346793057dd9a854f38fca4ef47a068","mime":"image/png","name":"medium_Crossover Series NFTs.png","path":null,"size":262.53,"width":750,"height":375},"thumbnail":{"ext":".png","url":"https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/strapi/63771b3a5ed23d97c829bbb601cb13ef.png","hash":"63771b3a5ed23d97c829bbb601cb13ef","mime":"image/png","name":"thumbnail_Crossover Series NFTs.png","path":null,"size":35.4,"width":245,"height":123}}}}}},{"localizations":{"data":[]},"title":"From Design System to ‘NFT Design System’: Creating TinyFaces","slug":"from-design-system-to-nft-design-system-creating-tinyfaces","legacyFeaturedImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/oZREIb60.png"},"featuredImage":{"data":null}},{"localizations":{"data":[]},"title":"Neurodiversity and Inclusion: Choosing Kinder Design","slug":"neurodiversity-and-inclusion-choosing-kinder-design","legacyFeaturedImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/A6E37491-A0FB-4EE3-9E7E-8542137F5D5A.jpeg"},"featuredImage":{"data":null}},{"localizations":{"data":[]},"title":"Web5 is here. 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