User researchers are often faced with the opportunity to play a role similar to that of an ethno-futurist.

Ethno-futurists study people and their social environments to forecast possible patterns of change.

On the other hand, user researchers go out in the field to meet with users and gather information about how they use products and services. They learn about the user's goals, habits and usual tasks usually within the context of use. In short, they are performing ethnographic* research.

But along with the typical ethnographic research there is an opportunity for the analysis to be expanded to recognize current and expected trends of change. This type of analysis may call for the same methodologies used by ethno-futurists.

When this information is passed along to the information architects and interaction designers they can structure systems that are scalable and evolving to fit the expected patterns of user change.

*This is a variation of ethnography, the way in which anthropologists study groups of people to understand their culture. Dan Montano authors a transdisciplinary blog about ways of thinking for the 21st century.