►
From YouTube: Going on Safari: Researching Users in the Metaverse by Georgia Rakusen | Devcon Bogotá
Description
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https://archive.devcon.org/archive/watch/6/going-on-safari-researching-users-in-the-metaverse/
A research study was conducted to understand the experiences of users in the metaverse. The deep conversations with participants in that study inspired the researchers to explore how web3 interactive platforms could act as a tool for qualitative ethnographic research in their own right, using 'netnography' to uncover behaviors and cultural learnings. In this talk, Georgia will share what can be gained by 'going on safari' and observing users in this new social ecosystem.
Speaker(s): Georgia Rakusen
Skill level: Beginner
Track: UX & Design
Keywords: metaverse,design,research
Follow us: https://twitter.com/efdevcon, https://twitter.com/ethereum
Learn more about devcon: https://www.devcon.org/
Learn more about ethereum: https://ethereum.org/
Devcon is the Ethereum conference for developers, researchers, thinkers, and makers.
Devcon 6 was held in Bogotá, Colombia on Oct 11 - 14, 2022.
Devcon is organized and presented by the Ethereum Foundation, with the support of our sponsors. To find out more, please visit https://ethereum.foundation/
A
A
User
research
and
has
a
specialized
in
the
web
3
and
crypto
space
for
the
last
five
years.
She
works
for
tooling,
wallets,
D5,
nfts,
dials
and
gaming
clients
to
help
to
to
help
them
understand
their
users
and
build
better
products
and
establish
the
user
research
Dao.
A
collective
of
ux
research
experts
dedicate
to
elevating
the
quality
and
quantity
of
user
research
being
conducted
in
the
web
tree
space.
So
welcome,
and
please
give
it
up
to
the
speaker.
B
B
Oh
quite
a
few
okay
and
it's
anyone
building
in
the
metaverse
here
good
all
right,
both
excellent,
so
I'm,
going
to
share
some
of
the
research
findings
from
a
recent
study
that
I've
conducted
into
the
experiences
of
early
adopters
in
the
metaverse
and
then
what
happened
afterwards
and
just
for
clarification
when
I
say
when
I
use
the
word
metaverse
and
I
did
a
quick
word
count
I'm
going
to
use
it
61
times
in
this
presentation,
I'm,
specifically
meaning
the
web.
3
enabled
metaverse
experiences
that
exist
right
now.
B
B
So
from
the
research
we
mapped
how
people
first
encountered
the
metaverse
and
What
affected,
whether
they
became
a
regular
user
or
not,
and
early
adopters
fall
into
like
four
main
camps:
they're,
either
just
inquisitive
people.
They
want
to
get
ahead
of
new
tech
Trends.
It's
really
up
their
street
creatives
people
looking
for
new
outlets
for
work
investors.
Those
are
folks
who
are
maybe
already
in
the
nft
space
and
people
already
working
in
web3
and
the
triggers
for
getting
started
in
the
metaverse
really
vary
for
these
different
people.
B
So
it
could
be
that
they've
introduced
to
it
by
another
person
that
they
know
hearing
about
the
term
in
the
media
or
being
driven
by
the
opportunity
to
make
money.
So,
though,
nfts
go
hand
in
hand
with
the
metaverse,
there
were
some
who,
in
in
our
pool
of
participants
who
came
to
it
totally
fresh,
they
had
no
knowledge
of
web3
or
nft,
and
the
metaverse
was
their
first
web3
experience
and
whether
users
continue
once
they
try.
B
It
depends
on
whether
they
experience
a
wow
moment
early
on
so
wow
moments
might
be
social
engagement
or
realizing
the
creative
or
earning
opportunity.
These
users
move
pretty
quickly,
then
from
just
trying
it
out
to
becoming
quite
active,
but
some
people
have
really
negative,
first-time
experiences
they
might
be
put
off
by
the
quality
of
the
graphics.
If
you've
played
it,
you
may
have
a
sense
of
that
or
from
not
discovering
positive
social
engagement.
Those
users
just
don't
come
back.
B
So
there
was
an
assumption
going
into
this
research
that
all
of
these
early
adopters
were
going
to
be
Gamers
right.
Gaming
is
the
really
big
use
case
for
the
metaverse,
we're
not
there
yet
gaming
in
the
metavers
just
can't
compete
compete
with
the
web
2
experience
and
early
metaverse
adopters
are
quite
likely
to
be
in
a
stage
of
life
where
they
have
less
time
for
serious
gaming.
B
So
a
lot
of
early
adopters
are
millennials,
so
some
of
them
actually
have
children
who
are
playing
Minecraft
right
now,
give
you
a
sense
of
who
these
people
are,
and
they
have
other
priorities
other
than
grinding
in
play
to
earn
games.
So
a
lot
of
them
had
never
played
any
play
to
learn
games,
but
their
Nostalgia
for
that
formative,
gaming
experience
and
Nostalgia
for
the
early
internet
does
impact
how
they
perceive
and
react
to
the
metaverse
so
gaming
in
their
youth.
B
During
the
emergence
of
online
forums
in
the
early
2000s
I'm
sure
some
people
can
this
resonates
with
them.
It's
prepared
them
for
what
actually
being
in
the
metaverse
is
like
now,
the
convergence
of
3D,
virtual
worlds
and
social
media,
and
this
user
spells
it
out
great
to
me,
the
metaverse
is
the
ultimate
social
platform.
It
reminds
me
of
AOL
chat
in
the
90s,
but
now
you
have
visuals
and
tokens
attached
to
it.
B
B
The
ability
to
find
your
tribe
and
create
shared
connections
is
really
really
powerful.
This
user
was
a
DJ
who
ended
up
quitting
his
full-time
desk
job
to
work
in
the
metaverse.
He
said,
I've
spawned
a
lot
of
meaningful
relationships.
It
holds
tremendous
value
to
me.
It's
stuff,
I
wouldn't
be
doing
in
real
life
that
I've
always
long
to
do
it's
hard
to
go
out
there
and
make
friends
in
my
job.
Nobody
shared
the
same
interests
as
me.
B
B
So
this
user
was
a
professional
artist
in
real
life,
who's
invite
invited
to
display
their
work
in
the
metaverse
for
the
first
time,
and
he
said,
I
could
see
my
art
virtually
on
the
gallery.
Walls,
it
looked
stunning.
This
would
cost
ten
thousand
dollars
to
display
in
a
gallery
in
real
life,
and
here
I
am
doing
it
for
free
a
collector
had
questions
and
everyone
in
the
space
could
read.
My
answer.
B
I
only
had
to
answer
one
question
once
at
Gallery
shows
I
have
to
answer
the
same
questions
70
times
and
still
make
it
seem
like
it
was
the
first
time
the
question
was
asked
that
for
me,
was
like
the
golden
wow
moment,
but
there
is
a
challenge
of
course.
So
many
of
these
people
have
no
prior
web
3
knowledge.
So
they
have
this
really
steep
learning
curve
in
order
to
onboard
learning
about
wallets
nfts
a
whole
bunch
of
new
Concepts.
So
how
are
these
platforms
actually
supporting
web
3
newcomers
with
all
of
this
learning?
B
So
as
I
was
writing
up
the
findings
for
This
research,
I
reflected
on
my
own
personal
experience
of
having
used
the
metaverse
and
honestly
I'd
only
used
it
once
I'd
dip.
My
toes
in
I
think
it
was
for
an
East
Global
event.
Like
some
years
ago,
I
tried
it
I,
remember,
feeling
lost
not
really
feeling
like
it
was
for
me
being
unsure
what
the
etiquette
was
and
I
I
kind
of
found
the
experience
a
bit
scary.
But
after
doing
these
interviews
it
got
me
wondering,
could
you
do
research
in
the
metaverse?
B
Thankfully,
a
much
bigger
brain
than
mine
has
written
a
lot
about
this
topic,
so
I
consulted
the
Bible
on
netnography,
it's
called
netnography
by
Robert
kazinitz,
so
netnography
is
qualitative
social
media
research.
It's
an
adaptation
of
ethnography,
which
is
the
study
of
people
and
their
behaviors,
but
instead
of
going
to
physically
to
where
they
are
all
the
action
happens
online.
It's
focused
on
human
experiences
and
cultural
understanding,
not
product
ux
research
is
not
the
focus
for
it
and
it's
informed
by
a
sense
of
self-awareness
of
the
researcher.
B
B
So
it
involves
watching
what
people
do
online
documenting,
what's
going
on
collecting
lots
of
data
where
that
could
be
screenshots
links,
anything
video
as
well
as
immersion
by
the
researcher,
into
the
space
that
they're
researching
and
reflecting
on
their
own
role
in
that
process
as
well,
and
then
interpreting
all
of
that
information
and
answering
research
questions
now
most
of
this
book,
which
I
do
recommend
it's
like
quite
a
big
book.
It
is
a
good
read,
though,
most
of
it
explores
really
this
method
around
traditional
social
media
there's
very
little
reference
to
Virtual
Worlds.
B
However,
someone
has
done
their
own
netnographic
study
of
Second
Life,
the
author
Tom
bowlesdorf
spent
two
years
doing
it
I
realized
I,
didn't
have
that
much
time,
so
I
just
wanted
to
get
a
taste
for
like
what
this
method
was
like
and
whether
it's
useful
for
other
people
to
do
too.
So
what
does
it
look
like
in
reality?
B
So
the
researcher
keeps
field
notes
like
a
journal
and
whenever
they're,
observing
or
immersing
they
take
notes
with
a
focus
on
social
behaviors
and
the
researcher
is
writing
what's
happening
and
how
they
feel
and
they
reflect
on
their
own
role.
In
the
experience
as
well
now
there
are
some
very
important
ethical
considerations
for
doing
this
type
of
study.
There's
this
concept
known
as
the
consent
Gap.
B
B
So
an
ethical
ethnographer
needs
to
make
their
intentions
known
to
the
people
that
they're
studying
you
can't
go
undercover
basically,
another
thing
I
needed
to
consider
was
that
I'm
studying
web
free
people
and
I
know
that
they're
really
privacy
conscious
so
I
needed
to
be
extra
careful
about
what
I
share.
In
my
research
findings,
not
everyone
I
interacted
with
said.
Yes,
please
share
screenshots
of
the
tweets
I
sent
you
so
so
I'm
being
overly
cautious
on
that
front.
B
So,
with
some
trepidation,
I
set
up
a
page
for
myself
on
notion
describing
the
re.
What
the
research
was
about.
I
would
then
add
the
link
to
that
in
my
bio
in
the
in
the
metaverse
platforms
and
direct
people
to
that.
If
they
wanted
to
know
more
I
updated
my
Twitter
profile
to
say
what
I
was
doing
and
then
I
began,
observing
and
I
started
on
Twitter
Reddit
Discord
following
threads
I
dipped
into
different
metaverse
platforms
before
finding
any
finally
ending
up
in
decentraland,
so
I
created
my
avatar
there.
B
She
is
in
order
to
adhere
to
the
netnographic
method,
I
made
sure
I
looked
somewhat
like
myself
and
I
also
called
myself
g-rack
researcher
just
so.
There
was
no
ambiguity
where
people
would
recognize
me
and
I
spent
many
hours
doing
this
work
I
kept
a
journal
and
what
I'm
going
to
do
now
is
read
some
excerpts
for
you.
B
I
went
to
the
decentraland
events.
Page
chose
a
game
and
teleported
there.
There
are
about
30
or
so
people
their
avatars
all
stood
around
in
groups,
but
not
appearing
to
be
doing.
Anything.
I
tried
to
work
out
how
the
game
works,
which
was
tricky,
I,
wonder
how
everyone
else,
Managed
IT
I,
felt
a
bit
stupid
and
wondered
whether
I
was
the
only
new
person
to
the
game
without
any
helpful
prompts
by
others.
What
is
the
experience
like
for
other
new
users?
B
I
engaged
in
the
text
chat?
It
seemed
people
were
up
for
surface
level
conversations,
but
when
I
asked
a
researchery
question,
I
had
no
response,
which
felt
very
disheartening.
It
made
me
feel
that
my
Approach
of
asking
people
upfront
questions
was
wrong.
I
noted
how
others
were
welcoming
people
they
knew
using
web
3
signifiers
like
GM
to
one
another.
Looking
around
everyone
else
was
in
very
flashy
outfits
and
I
began
to
feel
self-conscious
that
my
chosen
normal
looking
Avatar
was
some
sort
of
signifier
to
others.
B
I
entered
the
venue
and
there
was
a
live
band.
I
hadn't
heard
of
playing
streaming
their
performance
into
the
venue.
My
name
g-rack
researcher
sparked
some
interest,
and
people
asked
me
what
I
was
researching.
I
noted
in
the
text
chat
that
some
people
share
their
real-life
locations.
I
think
this
is
a.
This
is
a
grounding
to
the
experience
and
a
wave
of
people
to
find
commonality.
B
B
Just
as
in
real
life,
you
can't
just
jump
in
with
questions
for
people.
You
don't
know
you
have
to
do
some
social
lubrication
to
get
people
to
warn
to
you
after
participating
in
the
rituals
of
wishing
people
GM,
even
though
it
was
my
afternoon
and
welcoming
others
by
name
to
the
event
space
people
began
to
ask
me
questions,
and
this
became
a
great
opener
when
I
explained
what
I
was
working
on.
People
were
very
positive
towards
it
and
offered
to
connect
me
to
other
people
who
might
share
their
experiences.
B
In
my
earlier
observations,
I
saw
how
sharing
screenshots
of
activities
in
the
metaverse
on
social
media
is
a
really
common
activity.
While
I
was
at
the
event,
the
band
encouraged
people
to
tweet
screenshots,
so
I
went
ahead
and
did
so
after
tweeting
I
got
a
vocal
shout
out
from
the
band
that
felt
very
validating
and
enforced.
A
sense
of
multi-platform
immediacy
I
noted
how
this
multi-platform
experience
requires
a
lot
of
multitasking
I,
wonder
how
many
browser
tabs
all
the
other
users
have
open
once
the
event
finished.
B
Someone
in
the
text
chat
told
me
to
check
openc
for
a
show
app,
which
I'd
not
heard
of
before.
Thankfully,
they
told
me
where
to
find
it
in
the
openc
interface,
as
otherwise
I
wouldn't
have
known.
I
didn't
ask
this
question.
They
preempted
it
which
suggests
to
me
they've
helped
others
with
the
same
problem.
This
person
is
a
guide
when
I
found
the
nft
just
there.
B
So,
as
my
emotion,
progressed,
I
brought
some
manner
I
jazzed
up
my
outfit
a
bit
ready
to
fit
in
a
bit
more
I,
definitely
upgraded.
The
look
and
I
did
try
a
few
different
platforms,
but
I
kept
coming
back
to
decentralam
because
that's
where
most
of
the
social
engagement
was,
and
this
study
is
about
people.
So
that
was
why
I
came
back
to
decentral
and
for
the
purpose
of
trying
out
this
method
so
on
to
some
later
Journal
excerpts.
B
A
couple
of
days
since
spent
playing
in
The
Meta
verse
feels
like
a
long
time.
I
wonder
why
that
is
I.
Think
I
had
such
a
welcoming
experience
from
people
here
so
I
feel
like
I'm
part
of
something
that
it
is
now
for
me.
When
previously
it
wasn't
I
feel
bold,
confident,
I
visit
a
promotional
bar
there
isn't
much
going
on
there.
It's
sort
of
a
liminal
space
with
no
obvious
Focus.
There
was
a
squid-like
bartender
which
I
interacted
with,
but
it
was
a
chat
bot
and
that
was
really
disappointing
to
me.
B
Interacting
with
it
didn't
really
support
my
goals
as
a
user,
but
then
I
stumbled
across
another
player,
whose
first
time
it
was
and
they
were
lost,
they
wanted
some
help,
understanding
what
to
do.
I
told
them
about
a
music
event.
Coming
up
and
Bam
I
felt
like
I'd
instantly
leveled
up
from
newcomer
to
experience,
player,
The
Apprentice
had
become
the
master
except
I
wished.
I
could
take
them
around
to
venues
with
me.
The
best
I
could
do
was
post
coordinates
in
the
chat
for
the
music
venue.
B
Wouldn't
it
be
cool
for
us
to
tether
together
in
order
to
travel
as
a
group
between
locations.
I
accidentally
clicked
on
my
own
coordinates
in
the
chat,
teleported
off
and
then
couldn't
make
my
way
back
to
them.
Hopefully,
they
found
their
own
way.
Around
did
I
feel
a
tiny
bit
of
responsibility
for
their
experience.
I
wonder
how
I'd
feel
if
I
were
in
their
shoes
and
the
person
giving
me
advice,
just
disappeared
and
never
came
back.
B
I
went
to
the
venue
with
the
Dance
Floor.
There
was
a
DJ
live
streaming.
I
saw
some
friends
and
they
called
me
out
in
the
text
chat.
It
was
nice
to
feel
so
welcomed,
I'm
thinking
back
to
other
online
music
experiences.
I've
had
could
this
be
better
than
watching
a
boiler
room
set
at
home?
You
could
just
set
up
your
avatar
dancing
with
all
these
funky
looking
people
and
get
live,
shout
outs
from
the
DJ
and
sit
back
and
enjoy
it.
B
I
can
imagine
putting
this
on
the
television
on
a
Friday
night
with
some
friends
in
the
house
instead
of
a
Spotify
playlist
I,
wonder
what
everyone
else
is
doing
behind
their
screens
at
home,
whether
much
in-person
social
engagement
happens
simultaneously,
as
in
the
metaverse
the
next
morning,
I
received
a
direct
message
on
Twitter.
Thanking
me
for
my
participation
in
the
event
and
asking
for
a
wallet
address
working
in
the
space.
B
I
get
a
lot
of
random
DMS
related
to
crypto
and
nfts,
but
I
checked
out
the
profile
picture
of
the
person
who
messaged
me
and
recognized
them
from
their
Avatar
made
sure
I
checked
their
profile.
I
replied
with
my
wallet
address
and
I
was
excited
to
find
what
might
be
dropped
to
me.
It
turned
out
to
be
a
wearable.
It
feels
to
me
that
participating
in
the
metaverse
is
like
a
massive
multi-platform
treasure
hunt.
B
So
another
time
I
decided
to
begin
my
journey
on
a
Twitter
space.
The
hosts
were
talking
about
spatial
a
platform
I'd
visited
before
but
decided
not
to
spend
my
research
time
in
it,
because
there
wasn't
a
lot
of
social
engagement
going
on
so
on.
Twitter
two
links
were
posted
to
a
parcel
of
land
in
spatial,
on
the
left
that
one
of
the
speakers
on
the
Twitter
spaces
had
been
working
on
and
a
venue
in
decentraland
streaming.
B
B
So
I
conduct
conducted
my
Explorations
over
about
10
days,
I
spent
about
15
hours,
trawling,
social
media
about
10
hours,
15
hours
in
the
metaverse
itself,
and
really
only
to
test
this
method
out
to
test
the
value
of
doing
it.
I
didn't
expect
to
find
out
anything
very
certain
in
this
period
of
time,
but
I
did
come
away
with
some
reflections,
so
you
can
learn
stuff
about
people
this
way
and
I
think
it's
really
interesting
that
the
engagement
level
on
social
media
definitely
feels
more
prominent.
It's
busier
than
actual
platform,
engagement
and
I
know.
B
B
If
anyone
who
works
at
decentraland
can
give
us
some
insights
on
their
daily
users,
that
would
be
interesting,
but
I
I
think
we
have
to
see
social
media
as
an
extension
of
the
metaverse,
because
it's
part
of
the
experience
for
it
so
Twitter
twitch,
Discord,
openc
telegram.
All
of
these
form
part
of
the
metaverse
experience,
and
that
poses
a
question.
Is
there
value
in
folding?
In
these
social
networks
into
metaverse
platforms,
or
should
they
exist
outside
of
the
3D
World?
B
B
There
are
so
many
rituals
and
symbols
celebrating
and
welcoming
one
another:
the
use
of
web3
language,
the
symbols
in
wearables
and
even
Avatar
movements,
gifting
items
supporting
new
people
with
technical
challenges,
all
of
this
good
stuff.
So,
if
you're
new
to
web3
culture,
immersion
like
this
is
a
fast
track
way
to
get
to
know
web
3
users,
but
for
the
already
initiated,
if
you've
been
in
the
space
for
a
long
time
like
I,
have
it
may
not
be
as
fruitful.
B
It
certainly
reinforces
what
we
know
about
web3
users,
but
I
suspect
that
the
culture
in
the
metaverse
will
change
I'm
interested
in
the
questions
around
how
web3
culture
now
affects
people
who
are
outside
of
it.
What
do
they
think
when
they
join
the
space
and
what
new
cultures
will
move
into
the
space
or
emerge
as
adoption
grows?
B
I
thought
I,
thought.
I
was
being
really
clever
and
put
loads
of
questions
together.
That
I
was
going
to
like
Grill
people
about
in
the
metaverse,
and
that
was
totally
the
wrong
approach
to
go,
for
they
were
all
the
wrong
questions
and
it
wasn't
the
right
format.
Good
questions
really
only
emerged
after
spending
time
in
the
metaverse,
and
the
netnographic
method
does
cultivate
very
deep
empathy
with
users.
Sometimes
it's
hard
to
remember
that
you
are
studying
other
people
and
it's
easy
to
slip
into.
B
The
mindset
of
I
am
the
user
and
you
could
end
up
just
performing
a
ux
audit.
You
know
just
writing
a
journal
of
all
the
problems
that
you
find
as
you
go
through,
but
it's
really.
It
is
about
people
it's
about.
Observing
people
not
just
about
the
platform.
However,
I
do
think
it
can
be
used
to
identify
opportunities
for
platform
improvements.
The
questions
that
I
came
up
with
as
I
was
going
as
I
was
journaling
on
my
Explorations
point
to
those.
B
Certainly
it
can
uncover
good
research
questions
for
further
inquiry,
so
if
you're
building
in
the
metaverse
space
I
encourage
you
to
get
close
to
your
users,
don't
rely
on
just
Discord
signals
to
plan
your
feature
roadmap
like
please
don't
do
that
method
methodical
there.
We
go
about
your
approach
to
collecting
data
right
and
triangulate
with
multiple
methods.
That's
really
important
interviews,
observations
and
immersion
too,
and
if
you
want
to
learn
about
emerging
online
communities
in
general,
virtual
worlds
are
a
great
place
to
start.
B
So
very.
Lastly,
if
you're
a
user
in
the
metaverse,
then
I
really
want
to
learn
about
your
experiences
to
support
this
ongoing
research
and
the
final
report.
So
please
scan
the
QR
code.
Complete
the
six
minute
survey,
potentially
win.
Some
usdc
and
I
really
look
forward
to
being
able
to
share
the
full
published
results.
B
C
B
I
think
it's
the
journaling
I
was
doing.
I
was
doing
the
journaling
live,
I
wrote
thousands
of
thousands
of
words
as
I
went
collecting
like
every
data
point.
I
got
like
hundreds
of
screenshots
as
well
that
that
keeps
you
on
your
toes
to
remember
that
you
are
observing
the
experience
as
a
researcher
and
not
just
as
a
user.
Otherwise
you
just
go
about
you
know
you
cover,
uncover
a
problem
or
maybe
a
question
might
enter
your
brain
and
then
leave
again
because
you're
not
documenting
it.
So
the
the
important
bit
is
the
field
notes.