An EPIC Talk moderated by MATT BERNIUS, Principal Design Researcher, Code for America Panelists: NICHOLE CARELOCK, Tech Talent Project & EPIC Board A. KATHRYN HOHMAN, Director of Research and Future Planning, Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer ABBAS JAFFER, UX Researcher, Central Integrity, Facebook VICTOR UDOEWA, Service Design Lead & Customer Experience Strategist, NASA Overview Ethnography has always illuminated the interconnections between society and industry, private and public, economic and cultural, business and civic. But recent events—COVID-19, police violence, political disinformation—have reminded us that civic institutions are fragile, and that we all have a critical role in civic spaces, whether we work for private corporations, nonprofits, or governments. EPIC people have expressed renewed interest and urgency in addressing our roles and responsibilities in civic space. As a community of practitioners who span all sectors, industries, and disciplines, we are in a unique position...

An EPIC Talk with NICHOLE CARELOCK (Ad Hoc LLC), MARTHA COTTON (Fjord/Accenture Digital), & CARRIE YURY (Fjord) Overview The daily work of ethnographers requires being the room with key people, working through a range of challenges in shared spaces. We do this in workshop settings, for brainstorming and planning, and for the myriad ways we collaborate with teams, stakeholders, clients, and others. COVID19 has upended our ability to work together in this way. How do you make virtual collaboration not only effective but also feel authentic? How do you lean-in to digital instead of trying to force fit analog experience into digital boxes? There are best practices for remote and virtual ways to be together and approximate that "in the roominess." Along with expertise from many fields, ethnographers can draw on our deep understandings about the way culture, meaning, ritual, and other dimensions of human interaction shape experience in physical and digital spaces. Join us for this EPIC Talk where a panel of your fellow EPIC...

LINDSAY FERRIS Ad Hoc, LLC NICHOLE CARELOCK Ad Hoc, LLC “I got verbals, but verbals don’t hold up in court….I need it in black and white.” After Sheila submits hospital quality data to the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), reports indicate that her data hasn’t been received. She makes countless calls to the CMS Help Desk to get answers. They reassure her numerous times that they have her data, yet Sheila is insistent that she needs to see the change explicitly stated in the report. Sheila makes it her personal crusade to obtain material evidence because only written testimony will prove that her data has been submitted successfully and protect her facility from CMS penalties. At a time when we are becoming increasingly reliant on data and technology as the ultimate bearers of truth, Sheila exemplifies how people become stewards of evidence in service to these technical systems. As she moves her facilities’ data through CMS’ error-ridden reporting system, the burden of proof is on her to provide...