CULTURE + DESIGN Interactions 12
#cultureUX

About Me Erik Dahl @eadahl
#cultureUX

About this talk 4 VIGNETTES
DEFINING 3 BUILDING BLOCKS & CAVEATS CULTURE OF CULTURE IMPLICATIONS

Cultural Fit

“The Phone Stack” Game

CULTURAL
Orientation
Methodology

THE REAL JOURNEY OF DISCOVER
CONSISTS NOT IN SEEING NEW LANDSCAPES BUT IN HAVING NEW EYES. - MARCEL PROUST

YES... AND... CULTURE Psychology Physiology
Emotions Context Activities Motivations Goals

YES... AND...

I’m NOT talking about creating
culture within your organization

I’m NOT talking about cross-cultural
design

Cultural Foil

we are all members of
MANY CULTURES

Okay, great. So, what is
culture about? HOW DO WE DEFINE IT?

Culture is: Behavior - what
people do Knowledge - what people know Artifacts - things people make and use. - James Spradley

Culture is simply what gives
meaning to actions, which it does by providing a sense of coherence or patterning and predictability. It provides the lens through which one interprets events, scenes, and actions. - Robert Gordon

The concept of culture I
espouse...is essentially a semiotic one. Believing with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning. - Clifford Geertz

Culture is a system of
shared meanings that is based on a signifying order, a complex system of different types of signs that cohere in predictable ways into patterns or representation which individuals and groups can utilize to make or exchange messages. - Marcel Danesi

these definitions point to a
GENERATIVE concept of culture NOT a TAXONOMIC concept of culture

our designs become sites of
CULTURAL PRODUCTION

...it is in its transparency
Joe Ballay onfunction that it fulfills its design

3 building blocks
of CULTURE

building block #1
PATTERNS

An underlying shared system of
information and knowledge that is manifest through patterns of norms, behaviors and signifiers.

patterns help us
SEE culture

patterns are the SYNTAX of
culture

patterns provide the MATERIAL of
culture

How do we suss out?
PATTERNS

be OPEN to the WORLD.
NOTICE Let go of your ASSUMPTIONS.

Sweatener, not Cleaner

Farmhouse, not Urban

3 building blocks of culture
Patterns --- --- See --- --- Syntax --- --- Material --- --- Notice --- --- Let go of --- --- Assumptions

building block #2
STORIES

Clifford Geertz Culture is simply
the ensemble of stories we tell ourselves about ourselves.

Harry Crews

Truth of the matter was,
stories was everything and everything was stories. Everybody told stories. It was a way of saying who they were in the world. It was their understanding of themselves. It was letting themselves know how they believed the world worked; the right way and the way that was not so right.

stories help us
UNDERSTAND culture

stories are the SEMANTICS of
culture

stories provide an EMIC perspective
of culture

How do we suss out?
STORIES

be OPEN to the PEOPLE.
EMPATHIZE Build new ASSUMPTIONS.

Creativity Passion Authenticity Community Engaged
Personal Expression

A “Value-based Syllogism” define general
my expression of < value > < value > < brand x > (-) (+) neg. brand pos. brand expression expression

“It used to be that
you got ahead by working harder, but now it’s about working smarter.”

3 building blocks of culture
Patterns Stories --- See Understand --- Syntax Semantics --- Material Emic --- Notice Empathize --- Let go of Build new --- Assumptions Assumptions

building block #3
INTERPRETATION

Clifford Geertz Deep knowledge is
the ability to make complex connections to central concpets.

We can’t just give people
what they want.

Kim Philby “I learned more
at cocktail parties than by photographing documents...”

interpretations help us
KNOW culture

interpretations are the PRAGMATICS of
culture

interpretations provides an ETIC perspective
of culture

How do we suss out?
INTERPRETATION

be OPEN to the OURSELVES.
MODEL Challenge your ASSUMPTIONS.

Enculturation

Openings Closings It’s not always
about what you notice on the clock.

Cultural Function

Cultural Form

3 building blocks of culture
Patterns Stories Interpretations See Understand Know Syntax Semantics Pragmatics Material Emic Etic Notice Empathize Model Let go of Build new Challenge Assumptions Assumptions Assumptions

CULTURE + DESIGN
IMPLICATIONS

MEANING ULTIMATELY, CULTURE IS ALL
ABOUT

ASSUMPTIONS Acknowledge... Let go of...
Build... Challenge...

NEW EYES Cultural understanding provides
a lens or orientation towards the world and our everyday lives.

TRICKSTER
Designer as...

Summary 4 VIGNETTES DEFINING 3
BUILDING BLOCKS & CAVEATS CULTURE OF CULTURE IMPLICATIONS

CULTURE + DESIGN thanks @eadahl
erik@goinvo.com