Research and design: a changing relationship and the influence of Ethnography

DR GAVIN MELLES

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A Prompt: Ethno What? http://www.methods.manchester.ac.uk/methods/ethnography/

Personal experiences

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Designs new realities

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The nature and requirements of interaction design: why ethnography?

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Design Ethnography: Fishing? http://vimeo.com/6038262

Developing clarity and focus from uncertainty

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Perspectives on the role of anthropology in design

Research through design: anthropology's contribution

Zimmerman, J., Forlizzi, J., & Evenson, S. (2007). Research through design as a method for interaction design research in HCI. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems - CHI ’07 (pp. 493-502) 5

Human-centred design: IDEO's message

6http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgEAAhEeDHY

The landscape of human centred design: multiple entry points for ethnography

Sanders, E. B.-N., & Stappers, P. J. (2008). Co-creation and the new landscapes of design. CoDesign, 4(1), 5-18. doi:10.1080/15710880701875068

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A little bit of history Developments in Ethnography

In the field one has to face a chaos of facts, some of which are so small that they seem insignificant; others loom so large that they are hard to encompass with one synthetic glance. But in this crude form they are not scientific facts at all; they are absolutely elusive, and can be fixed only by interpretation (Bronislaw Malinowski, Baloma (1954), 238.

Ethnography: origins of the outsider/insider view

http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a05/f9/rk/ethnographic-observation-800x800.jpg 8

Sociological ethnography: city as laboratory

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Understanding cultural subgroups

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Visual ethnography: a picture worth 1000 words

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Focused ethnography: impetus from Latour and Goffman

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Medical ethnography: an example

Engebretson, J. (2011). Clinically applied medical ethnography: relevance to cultural competence in patient care. The Nursing clinics of North America, 46(2), 145-54

13http://www.intel.eu/content/www/eu/en/healthcare-it/healthcare-ethnography-video.html

Technology development: new ways of working

https://www.ethosapp.com

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Without field research: cliches versus thick description

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Analysis: grounded theorizing or design driven

18http://www.methods.manchester.ac.uk/methods/groundedtheory/index.shtml

Crucial questions• Should I take an overt or covert role in the field? • How much should my prior reading and analysis dictate the

field study? • How long should or can I remain in the field? • What is the effect of my presence on results and can I

intervene in situations? • Should I take photographs or film in the field? • Can I use cultural probes to get users to gather their own

evidence?

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Conclusion• Ethnography has its own history of developments

• Applied ethnography represents a practical application

• There is a critical discussion between applied and traditional approaches

• The application into design puts an emphasis on stories and people's own perceptions

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