Doing design ethnography pdf

Yet users of these systems want applications that are natural to use without concern about how the software works. It is a qualitative research method predicated on the diversity of culture at home wherever that may be and abroad. She received her phd in sociology from york university and currently lives in seattle with her husband. Despite its rise to prominence a great many competing perspectives exist and there are few practical texts to support the development of competence. Availability of raw materials to other researchers the ethics of fieldwork. Its roots can be traced back to anthropological studies of small, rural and often remote societies that were undertaken in the early 1900s, when researchers such as bronislaw malinowski and alfred.

An embedded and collaborative approach to the study of cultural producers dorland, 2016 investigates the challenges and possibilities presented when conducting ethnographic research among cultural producers especially among designers who themselves conduct ethnographic research work. Contemporary ethnography is based almost entirely on fieldwork and requires the complete immersion of the anthropologist in the culture and everyday life of the people who are the subject of the study. Doing design ethnography humancomputer interaction series. Continuing on in my quest to share my unt applied anthropology thesis experience, today i will be discussing questions to ask in an ethnographic interview. Example questions to ask in an ethnographic interview. Ethnography is particularly good at examining complex cultural phenomena. Quick 2006, translating field research through contextual inquiry. Doing sensory ethnography situates the field in its broad multidisciplinary and contemporary context, but also provides a handson approach to ethnographic methods as well as the writing up of results. It delivers results that inform and inspire design processes, for instance service design processes. Yet they convey something about what we believe to be stable in the world.

Our design process ethnography synthesis prototyping 2. Instead, we see that researchers are cutting new paths to reinscribing critique in ethnography. Ethnographic research is often the starting point for design thinking or usercentered design. Ethnography southern illinois university edwardsville. Without knowing about the alternatives, i have been socialized to believe that real science is. Any deception of participants should be fully justified. Pdf thinking and doing ethnography in service design. Ethnographic data analysis university of wisconsinmadison. She currently works as a principal ux researcher at amazon. Our design process 3 ethnography synthesis prototyping hypothesis validation through generative, formgiving activities making meaning through. In this paper we show that it is possible to do good and rigorous ethnographic research in design through two case studies. The challenges facing ethnographic design research. Conducting observational research deakin university.

Determine if ethnography is the most appropriate design to use to study the research problem. Pdf this article describes critical design ethnography. In order to do an ethnography, you need to have a basic question or topic in mind, from which you will devise a research strategy of interviews, surveys, andor participant observation, and library research. The biggest challenge that faces those who do ethnographic research is the balance between getting close to their subjects and. The appeal of ethnography to design follows the recognition by. Possible applicability of the work for the participants 22. What is specific about ethnographic research how the ethnographic research process proceeds what are the methodological and ethical principles of ethnographic research how to do ethnographic fieldwork how to analyze and interpret ethnographic research materials. Doing ethnography is invaluable reading for anyone collecting data through observation. Classical ethnography upheld the belief that through reflexivity, the researcher could remove personal bias from any interpretation and thus understand and analyze the reality of a culture. Jun 09, 2017 design thinking is a way to find the best solution to a problem through design and human centered means. The emergence of teambased ethnography, as a departure from the traditional lone researcher working in the field, is in part in response to the globalisation of societies, economies and ororganisations. But ethnographers in business often work with a broad range of other methods, from video and diary studies to surveys and sensors. Selfethnographic research, where a researcher becomes part of a community and documents her own experiences.

The author will typically go on to explain that anthropologists are generally more interested in gaining an understanding of how human lives make sense within the contexts in which they live than we are in arriving at universal. Doing design ethnography elaborates the ethnomethodological perspective on ethnography, a distinctive approach that provides canonical studies of work in and for design. Heather horst is associate professor and director, research partnerships in the college of design and social context and a founding director 20122015 of the digital ethnography research centre at rmit university, melbourne. Ethnography is suitable if the needs are to describe how a cultural group works and to explore their beliefs, language, behaviours and also issues faced by the group, such as power, resistance, and dominance. What do you see as the future of design ethnography. It means entering someones world for a while, be it a couple of hours or a couple of days, or like our anthropological forefathers and foremothers, a couple of years. Nonparticipant online ethnography, where researchers decide to only observe, for example, an online community. Ethnography is one of the method in entirely in fieldwork. Below is a selective list of advantages of conducting ethnography, most culled from a list provided by wolcott 1999.

From academia to intervention in this chapter, i situate sensory ethnography in two ways. Ethnography is a research method central to knowing the world from the standpoint of its social relations. It provides researchers which rich insights into human, social and cultural aspect. This unique volume first considers the merits of qualitative research, profiles interviewing strategies, and discusses the relationships to respondents and how to write about social life. Although this seems like the correct way to do user research, in most cases users dont know, dont care or cant articulate what they need. Designers will find it an effective tool in envisioning places that are supportive of local cultures. Introduction to critical ethnography sage publications. Most people, like me, have grown up believing that positivism is science neuman, 1994. Ethnography involves handson, onthescene learning and it is relevant wherever people are relevant. Doing sensory ethnography 1 situating sensory ethnography. As an evangelist for design ethnography, kelly is dedicated to understanding how real people integrate products and services into their daily lives. Learning locally desired applications or service 30.

Ethnography is now a fundamental feature of design practice, taught in universities. Ethnography, descriptive study of a particular human society or the process of making such a study. Jim thomas, doing critical ethnography 1993 we should not choose between critical theory and ethnography. Design ethnography is ethnographic qualitative research set within a design context. Their reasons for doing ethnographic research are as varied as the ways that they do it. Some study people in order to fix a bug in a product, service, or system. Printed booklets or pdf slideshows with texts and pictures. Introduction to ethnographic research methods springerlink. The main purpose of ethnography is obtain in a deep understanding of people culture. They range from a conventional ethnography, for which a researcher makes the.

An introduction to definition and method 3 perceived that there was some value in doing ethnography to add to the sum of knowledge, ethnography came under criticism for being an. Researchers should be as objective as possible and avoid ethnocentricity. Doing ethnography is an essential text for courses in ethnography, research methods qualitative emphasis, applied sociology, and related subjects across canada. First, i outline its continuities and departures from existing ethnographic methodologies.

An autoethnography on learning about autoethnography. A guide to doing ethnography in the private sector, and has taught research methods at several universities. Ethnography as a tool in hci design left to their own devices, computer programmers tend to take a systemscentered point of view concerned about how software works and what parts of it do what landauer, p. In other words, some ethnographers have insisted that ethnography be holistic, whereas. While there is certainly no exact template, i will share what i used for my semistructured interviews. Open up any introductory textbook in sociocultural anthropology and you will find a section explaining the importance of the concept of holism. It provides an extensive treatment of the approach, with a particular slant on providing a pedagogical text that will support the development of competence for students, career researchers and design practitioners. The origin of ethnography in health research dates back to the development of a branch of anthropology known as medical anthropology. A common mistake made by novice researchers is to ask users what they want from a new product or service. Ethnography considered harmful hine, christine 2000. This block will help you understand the utility of design ethnography to create products. Problems of reliability and validity in ethnographic research. Reliability and validity in ethnographic research triangulating research design specifications of differences in overall design between experimental and ethno graphic research do not preclude legitimate sharing of data collection strategies denzin, 1978.

Some design ethnographers are initially trained as designers, and have later specialised themselves in doing design research based on ethnographic. It is a structured process for going into depth on the everyday lifes and experiences of the people a design is for. Ethnographic approaches associated with social and cultural anthropology are. Ethnography can be conducted entirely by one individual. However, its important to note that it can also have several drawbacks. Ethnographic research design sam ladner amazon ethnography is closely associated with the core qualitative methods of interviewing and observation. Doing design ethnography elaborates the ethnomethodological perspective on. Ethnography is now a fundamental feature of design practice, taught in universities worldwide and practiced widely in commerce. Innovative and thought provoking, it is a refreshing take on ethnography stressing both academic rigor and practical necessity. Ethnography is defined as both a social science research method and its final written product. Too little data may lead to false assumptions about behaviour patterns, while large quantities of data may not be processed effectively. The basic ethical principles to be maintained include doing good, not doing harm and protecting the autonomy, wellbeing, safety and dignity of all research participants. Design is proud to present its publication beyond design ethnography. Pdf doing ethnography download full pdf book download.

Suggestions for ethnographies for basic information on what ethnographies are all about, see background to ethnography below. Ethnography is the study of social interactions, behaviours, and perceptions that occur within groups, teams, organisations, and communities. Furthermore, ethnography is a design that is capable of moving beyond description to reveal complex relationships, patterns, and theory. In doing critical design ethnography, we have identified numerous struggles. Apr 18, 2016 a lot of design ethnography these days includes a fair amount of context interviewing, which is particularly important if you have certain time constraints on the project and you need to get. Doing design ethnography is the first dedicated practical text explaining how to do ethnography in a design context. An ethnographer sees what people are doing as well as what they say they are doing. It guides the reader through the field in a reflexive and highly stimulating way. Open coding coding for concepts that are significant in data as abstract representations of events, objects, relationships, interactions, etc. We discuss the blend rapid ethnography and grounded theory for the research conducted for the service.

The ethnographic approach is uniquely suited to sensitive and nuanced study of spaces of microcultures. Particular emphasis is placed on doing to convey and elaborate the approach as a concrete job of work consisting of particular skills and competences that are responsive to the practical demands of systems development. With regular exercises, lists of key terms and points and selfevaluation checklists, doing ethnography systematically describes the various phases of an eth. Read on to learn more about the pros and cons of ethnography. Doing design ethnography humancomputer interaction.

Critical ethnography theory and method critical ethnography is conventional ethnography with a political purpose. Online ethnographies research methods festival oxford, u. I think mainly we see design ethnographers in product firms, whether thats technology product. An ethnographic investigation of young adult male identity peter gill victoria university thesis submitted for a doctor of philosophy degree at victoria university, faculty of arts, education, and human development, school of psychology, 2008. Ethnography means trying to understand behavior and culture by going out and talking to and observing people wherever they are, while theyre doing whatever they do. Jun 19, 2017 in this ferris wheel episode, i speak with kelly goto, an evangelist for design ethnography and principal of gotomedia about the design ethnography mindset. Since all experiences are built atop services, in this is service design doing you will learn ways to make experiences more engaging, more memorable, and more personal. Sage research methods page 10 of 26 doing sensory ethnography. The studies collected here provide an introduction to ethnographic research through example, demonstrating multiple approaches to data collection, analysis and project design. Designing interactive computer systems to be efficient and easy to use is important so that people in our society may realize the potential benefits of computerbased tools although modern cognitive psychology contains a wealth of knowledge of human.

Dec 16, 2019 at first glance, ethnography offers a wide range of benefits. Observation is normally associated with an ethnographic. Ethnography is primarily used in the following instances. There is a shift to a critical ethnography denzin and.