Ethnography in the Field of Design
Top Cited Papers
- 1 December 2000
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Human Organization
- Vol. 59 (4) , 377-388
- https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.59.4.h13326628n127516
Abstract
Members of the design profession help develop new products and services of many kinds, and they are centrally concerned with satisfying the needs of users of their products. Ethnography appeals to designers because it provides a window onto the ways consumers interact with products in their everyday lives. The paper provides an overview of this extension of applied anthropology to a new domain. It traces how ethnography became known to designers and the transmission of particular research traditions that have shaped the practice of "ethnography" in the design field. Ethnomethodology, conversation analysis, and activity theory have been prominent theoretical influences. Most data-gathering methods are characterized by the use of videotape. As an example, I describe the research practices of one design firm, formerly known as E-Lab LLC, now part of Sapient Corporation.Keywords
This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit:
- Seeing as situated activity: Formulating planesPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,1996
- The limits of ethnographyPublished by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) ,1994
- Moving out from the control roomPublished by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) ,1994
- Faltering from ethnography to designPublished by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) ,1992
- Conversation AnalysisAnnual Review of Anthropology, 1990
- A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversationLanguage, 1974