Zorro — The Meaning of Clean in Women's Lives 2006

In-home ethnographic research

Using lived experiences to inform brand and product decisions

In-home ethnographic research

Decision at Stake

The brand needed to understand how its product actually fit into people’s daily routines — not how consumers described their behavior in surveys.

The core question was whether existing assumptions about usage, habits, and decision-making aligned with real-life behavior in the home.

Context

Zorro operated in a highly competitive consumer market where small behavioral differences could meaningfully impact adoption and loyalty.

Traditional research methods were surfacing opinions — but not revealing the environmental, social, and emotional factors shaping everyday use.

My Role

I conducted in-home ethnographic research to observe behavior as it naturally occurred — before, during, and after product use.

The goal was to replace assumption-driven decisions with grounded behavioral understanding.

Research Approach (in Service of Decisions)

Rather than asking people what they did, we observed what actually happened — how products were stored, shared, substituted, and forgotten in real environments.

Methods & Research Rigor

  • In-home observation
  • Contextual interviews
  • Artifact walkthroughs
  • Behavioral pattern synthesis

La Frontera del Lavado — Exploring boundaries of cleanliness

La Frontera de la Suciedad — Understanding perceptions of dirt

La Mirada de los Otros — Social perceptions and household behavior


Key Insights

  • Actual usage diverged significantly from stated usage
  • Environmental constraints shaped behavior more than preferences
  • Habits were shared across household members, not individual
  • Small frictions had outsized impact on adoption

What Changed

The research redefined what “usage” meant for the brand — shifting the focus from optimizing messages to designing the habits and contexts that make adoption stick.

What Leadership Learned

  • Self-reported behavior is an unreliable basis for strategy
  • Context is often a stronger driver than motivation
  • Designing for real environments improves adoption


Project Portfolio