Individual exercise: Conduct about 20 minutes of complete observation in a public space.

For example, observe people doing their shopping in a market place, commuters on a bus, people having a lunch break in a coffee shop, students in a seminar, or tourists visiting a tourist site. Be careful to pick a site where your behaviour won’t cause any inconvenience to those being observed or arouse undue suspicion. When observing, try to be as focused as possible. Immediately after the observation, and before talking to anyone about it, write down your observations. Do not worry about the format or language you use, just be as specific and detailed as possible. What kind of details can you remember, and what details slipped your mind? Can you explain why? Give your observation record to a friend or colleague. Do they have any comments on your observations or the style in which you noted down your observations?