When Design Met Anthropology

When Design Met Anthropology Christina Wasson

Outline of presentation
How design met anthropology
Emergence of a new, hybrid field: design anthropology
Process of collaboration
Case study
Collaboration between design and anthropology during economic crisis

Prior social science partners with design
Cognitive psychology/human factors
Marketing research

How design met anthropology
Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW)
Xerox PARC
E-Lab
“ Ethnography” became buzzword rather than anthropology

What is ethnography?
Fundamental research approach of ANTHROPOLOGY (cultural and linguistic)
Developed in early 1900s as a novel approach to understanding cultures: immersion, “participant observation”
The goal of ethnography is “to grasp the native’s point of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of his world” (Malinowski 1922:24-25)
Combined humanistic and scientific elements

Why ethnography appeals to designers
Reveals use in context (not lab)
Goes beyond what people say they do (focus group) to what they really do
Uncovers discrepancies between designers’ intended use of product and everyday behaviors
Power of ethnographic video as communication tool

Emergence of “design anthropology”
Interdisciplinary, hybrid field
Jobs - Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, IBM, SAP, Wells Fargo, Pitney Bowes, Philips, Rolls Royce, etc. + consultancies
Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference www.epic2009.com
Uncovers social and symbolic aspects of user experience
Especially useful for exploratory research

The downside of popularity
“ Ethnography Lite”
Anyone can do it
No theory toolkit
Data collection, not analysis

Theories in design anthropology
General anthropology “toolkit” includes theories about globalization, modernity, consumption, technology use, identity, religion, kinship, political economy, social organization...
Particular focus on interactions between people and artifacts, drawing on ethnomethodology, conversation analysis, activity theory
E-Lab’s AEIOU framework:
Activities
Environments
Interactions
Objects
Users

Methods in design anthropology: data collection
Video recording
Open to innovation
Shadowing
Guerilla fieldwork
Photo narratives

Methods in design anthropology: analysis
What are the patterns?
Intuition/memory can be misleading
Use software to code videorecordings and transcripts
Move from patterns to explanatory models

Collaboration between anthropologists and designers

What can go wrong in the collaboration
Anthropologists may feel their expertise is not valued and they are underutilized
Designers encounter frustration when they are given research results that do not point to practical applications

E-Lab’s partnership between research and design
Staffing
Organizational structures

E-Lab’s work process: the bowtie model

Case study Social TV Peripherals: Ethnographic Research and Design Implications Client: Motorola Spring 2008

Social TV
Goal: enabling people to watch TV “together” when they are not physically co-present
Software runs over TV that shows buddy list, who is watching what, ability to go to same show and open audio connection

Peripheral devices
Ambient light or other signal to indicate presence when members of buddy list watch TV
Remote control to interact with the application
Audio connection (microphone and speakers) for communication between participants

Fieldwork
10 in-home interviews to see how family members share devices and how they personalize them
5 participatory design sessions to gather more information about sharing and ownership of devices, and to stimulate design ideas for the Social TV peripherals

Participatory design sessions
Materials: Play-Doh, Legos, paper and colored pencils
Explanation of Social TV
Invitation to design peripherals
Discussion of designs to elicit family practices and needs

Tangible models of social TV peripherals

Explanatory frameworks
Family dynamics around the remote
How copresent families watch TV
Mobility while watching TV

Family dynamics around the remote

Current practices that need to be taken into account to develop a successful social TV product
Each family member pursued own trajectory of activities, and they often engaged in multitasking
Every household in the in-home interviews had more than one television
Majority of TV watching was done alone
Family members connected to their friends virtually via phone, internet
Design implication: one person, one social TV

Mobility while watching TV

Ideas from participatory design sessions
Reconfigure peripherals to just a remote and docking station; remote includes touch screen, audio, ambient lights (inspired by iPhone, iPod)
Use sound in addition to light to indicate presence
Aesthetics should be clean, timeless, unobtrusive; concerns about the ambient orb

Conclusions: collaboration between design and anthropology in a time of economic crisis
Enhancing the “fit” between products and users is more important than ever
Contributing to innovation and design thinking
Uncovering a shift in the culture of consumption
Globalization

Questions?

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When Design Met Anthropology

by Christina Wasson on Jun 03, 2009

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When Design Met Anthropology — Presentation Transcript