Ethnography for design

Ethnography
(for design)

John Payne

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Introductions

Ethnography and Experience Design: A Workshop

As a proven way to reveal the shared §  Context – as computing expands beyond
values, beliefs and practices that inform the desktop,
the decisions we make and the actions §  Emotion – as we seek new ways of
we take as social beings, we are poised evaluating satisfaction and
for a resurgence of interest in ethnography engagement, and
for experience design.
§  Behavior – as the explicit goal of behavior
This new interest is being driven by the change becomes more critical to design
designer s increasing concerns for:
practice.

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Introductions

About me

§  Bachelor s Degree in Industrial Design §  Co-managed group of Researchers and
from Ulm school-style product design Designers (XMod) in Tech Consulting firm
program with methodology focus
§  Co-founded Interaction Design firm where
§  Began Design career as Environmental I am responsible for the Experience
Designer / Design Engineer (Facility, Strategy, Research and Design practices
Retail and Exhibit)
§  Developed and taught courses to
§  Master s Degree in Design from Human- graduates, undergraduates and corporate
Centered Design Planning program with groups
methodology focus
§  Co-chair for international applied
§  First Customer Experience Strategist at ethnography conference (EPIC 2012)
my pre-bubble Tech Consulting firm
...come to Savannah next October!

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Ethnography (for design)

Designers should care about ethnography
because it can help produce more compelling,
innovative design that really connects with users—
in a way that creates delight.
– Darrel Rhea

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Ethnography (for design) Design-led

Expert mindset
Participatory mindset
User seen as “subjects”

User seen as “partners”

Research-led

The current landscape of human-centered design research as practiced
in the design and development of products and services
- Sanders 2008
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Ethnography (for design)

Design ethnography focuses on the broad patterns
of everyday life that are important and relevant
speciﬁcally for the conception, design, and
development of new products and services.
– Salvador, Bell, Anderson

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What is ethnography?

From Greek

• ἔθνος (ethnos) = group of people: tribe, family
• γράφω (grapho) = I draw, sketch, write, carve

Ok, so it’s “writing” about “groups of people” then, right?

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3 step process

•  You go to them
•  You talk to them
•  You write things down

– Rick Robinson

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…qualitative methods aimed to learn and
understand cultural phenomena which reﬂect the
knowledge and system of meanings guiding the
life of a cultural group. – Clifford Geertz

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…investigates the why and how of
decision making, not just what, where,
and when.

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…a qualitative method aimed to learn and

…set of shared attitudes, values, goals,
and practices that characterize an
institution, organization, or group.

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…a qualitative method aimed to learn and

…a system of inherited conceptions
by means of which we make sense of
our world.

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Exercise:
UICK! Think of a pencil…
Q



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While ethnography often includes a description of
the activities and practices of those studied, it is
more importantly an attempt to interpret and
give meaning to those activities. – Jeanette Blomberg

What do you mean?

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As much of America surfaces in a ball park, on a
golf links, at a race track, or around a poker table…

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As much of America surfaces in a ball park, on a
golf links, at a race track, or around a poker table,
much of Bali surfaces in a cock ring.

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For it is only apparently cocks that are ﬁghting
there. Actually, it is men. – Clifford Geertz

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Can I apply this to my work?

Guiding principles of Ethnography

Natural settings Members point-of-view Holistic description
A commitment to study Any understanding of the Behaviors can only be
the activities of people in world must be developed fully understood in
their everyday settings, from the perspective of concert with the values,
where values, beliefs those studied
practices, and beliefs
and practices manifest.
that inﬂuence them.

Context

Emotion & Behavior &
Psychology

Motivation

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References

Geertz, C. (1973). Thick description: Toward an interpretive theory of culture, in The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected
Essays (pp 3-30). New York, NY: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers
Geertz, C. (1973). Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockﬁght, in The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays (pp
115-149). New York, NY: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers
Zeisel, J. (1981). Observing physical traces” and Observing environmental behavior In Inquiry by design: Tools for
environment-behavior research (pp. 89-110). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Kumar, V. & Whitney, P. (2003). Faster, Cheaper, Deeper User Research. Design Management Journal, Spring 2003,
50-57. Design Management Institute
Blomberg, J, et. al. (1993) "Ethnographic Field Methods and Their Relation to Design," Participatory Design: Principles
and Practices (pp. 123-155), Schuler, Douglas, ed. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Salvador, T., Bell, G., & Anderson, K. (1999) Design ethnography. Design Management Journal 10, pp. 35-41.
Sanders, L. (2008). An Evolving Map of Design Practice and Design Research. Interactions (November – December),
pp. 13-17.
Morris, M., & Lund, A. M. (2001). Experience models: How are they made and what do they offer? Loop, 3,
http://loop.aiga.org/

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Ethnography for design

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