• The program focused - not on printers - but on the broad topic of "printed matter" in the home

• 30 families were interviewed and observed in their homes

• Detailed "Grand Tours" of homes revealed a vast array of printed materials

• We examined the use and meaning of everything from magazines and family notes to kids' artwork and awards

• Previously unknown printing needs for the home market were discovered

• New bundled software was developed that increased sales of high-margin ink

Printing at home isn't work

Sales of low-margin color inkjet printers into homes were brisk in 1995, but ink-cartridge sales were disappointing. An ethnographic study was conducted to understand the meaning of "printed matter" in homes. It included interviews with family members and examined all types of documents including photos, stickers, kids' artwork, family notes, and awards. Unfortunately, home printers had been designed and marketed like office printers. At work, people print at the end of an activity, but in the home, printing needed to be the beginning of a family project. One result was Canon Creative--the first software bundled with printers to proactively help families do something with their printers, like make greeting cards, T-shirts, and posters. From this single insight, average annual use of Canon inkjet printers increased by 130 pages, leading to $50 million in incremental, high-margin ink revenues.