WHERE WE STARTED

Where we Started

Having mapped a pretty miserable picture of the landscape, the following research proposes to examine how industry innovators can strive to make positive changes at a crucial moment for cookies. This section outlines the methodology used to inform brands how they can protect generation z trust while personalising ads in the wake of a cookie-less world. I decided to follow the principles of user experience design which seeks to build meaningful digital interactions. The Stanford School of Design’s 'design thinking' process includes five stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test[1].

For my methodology, I took inspiration from this process and divided the stages into three areas: definition, ideation, and testing. My decision to refer to UX design principles derived from my understanding of UX as a customer-centric approach, where I believe prioritisation of the user is crucial to regain trust within digital advertising. As Ogle of the User Defenders podcast defines, the practice of UX design is "empathetically-driven", finding seamless and human-focused solutions to user problems[2].

Stage one, definition

For the first stage, I wanted to affirm first-hand the experiences of generation z to see whether they corresponded with the knowledge mapped in the literature review. I used the interviewing technique laddering to help reveal connections between generation z's product experiences and their deeper personal values around my core themes of trust, privacy, and personalisation.

The findings were then consolidated into an empathy map, developing a rounded persona of my generation z participants. I then hosted brand experience workshops with the same group, to position, from the perspective of the generation z user, where a variety of existing technologies compared in terms of personalisation and trust. The synthesis of both participant interactions helped develop my understanding of the generation z discourse surrounding trust and personalised digital advertising.

Stage two, ideation

With an abundance of findings from stage one, I considered it important to amalgamate a cheat sheet if you will, which outlined the key findings and quotes I deemed to hold the greatest inspiration value for the ideation process. The Elito method aided in this process of converting these insights into practical ideas. Next, the role of speculative design informed the prototyping process and led me here today as the entrepreneur founder of Social Bubble. This type of thought experimentation looks to solve problems, including generation z trust in personalised advertising, by entering the realm of imagination to consider plausible utopic futures. At this stage, Social Bubble was created in response to the initial research question, aiming to provoke inquiry surrounding the future of addressable digital advertising.

Stage three, testing

With the base idea of Social Bubble conceived, in the final stage of my research I wanted to test the effectiveness of my speculation. To do so, I held prototype testing workshops with my stage one generation z participant groups, encouraging them to interact with the speculative prototype. Conclusions were then drawn and analysed to help inform future development of the prototype, and more specifically, the understanding of what generation z trust in personalised advertising requires to improve brand relationships online.

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Research Group

As specified in the research question, the audience I chose to explore was generation z. As the next cohort of consumers, the data collection to better understand their behaviours and preferences surrounding my core themes of trust, privacy, and personalisation will be crucial for advertisers moving into a cookie-less world. Therefore, I recruited four participants between the ages of 21 and 24. This group included males and females living in the UK from different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. I prioritised diversity when building my participant group as not to limit my findings to a specific mentality.

By creating interactive, honest, and open interviews, I ensured my participants would be comfortable sharing personal stories that would benefit my collection of weighty insights. Initially, I avoided discussion around the specificities of my project topic to reduce unconsciously leading participant responses, particularly surrounding my core themes which required a deep dive into their personal values.