Intelligences

Intelligences

Frictions and the Politics of Ethnography

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Frictions and the Politics of Ethnography. Scott Matter, TD School, University of Technology Sydney
by SCOTT MATTER, University of Technology Sydney https://vimeo.com/803204349 Our collaborations extend well beyond our teams, stakeholders, and research participants to complex global systems defined by friction. In this lightning talk, Scott Matter inspires us to stretch the boundaries of ethnography by embracing concepts of friction. Scott Matter is a Senior Lecturer at the TD School University of Technology in Sydney. His teaching and research contributes to societal transition toward sustainability, social and environmental justice, and more-than-human-centred community resilience. Scott holds a PhD in sociocultural anthropology from McGill University, where he investigated postcolonial rural development in rural Kenya. He has also worked as a Design Researcher and Strategic Design Lead at Fairfax Media, and as Associate Director, Shaping Futures in the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet....

Intelligences

When Race Causes Friction in Markets

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When Race Causes Friction in Markets. David Crockett, University of Illinois, Chicago
by DAVID CROCKETT, University of Illinois, Chicago https://vimeo.com/815388024 Markets are key spaces where racism is practiced and experienced. In this lightning talk, David Crockett suggests a framework we can use to evaluate corporate and community projects that attempt to intervene in racist market dynamics. The talk is based on Crockett's research article Racial Oppression and Racial Projects in Consumer Markets: A Racial Formation Theory Approach, Journal of Consumer Research, Volume 49, Issue 1, June 2022, Pages 1–24, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucab050 David Crockett is Professor of Marketing at the University of Illinois, Chicago. His primary research interest is in sociological aspects of consumer behavior, particularly the consequences of social inequality. He investigates the creation, manifestation, and resolution of class and racial inequality in the marketplace, and explore public policy initiatives designed to alleviate inequality. Professor Crockett's research has appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research,...

Intelligences

Laughing All The Way To EPIC

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Presentation slide: two circular photos against different tones of green background. Left is a white chicken, right is a country road, and the work "vs" is in the middle. So it represents Chicken versus Road.
EVAN HANOVER Conifer Research Humor is no mere “sense;” it is a social and cultural practice that enables each one of us to construct and recognize novel meanings and connections within our lives and worlds. The idea that humor relies on incongruity that defies our expectations has been around for millennia, but the mid-20th century work of Arthur Koestler elevated humor to be creatively on par with other artistic and intellectual feats. In this PechaKucha, I link my personal fascination/obsession with humor to Koestler’s concept of ‘bisociation’ – the connection of two seemingly unrelated or incommensurate frames of reference – to tell the story of how I became the ethnographer I am today. Beginning with my discovery of the work of George Carlin and moving through a life of evolving engagement with humor – academically, at work, and on stage – I have developed the belief that what we laugh at can help us arrive at novel ideas and make our thought (and therefore action) nimble and resilient in the face of...

Intelligences

Let’s Shift Power Together! An EPIC Co-Creation Activity

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To shift power in a complex system, try these power-shift techniques with power holders in different layers of the system
CHELSEA MAULDIN Public Policy Lab NATALIA RADYWYL Today This wildcard session was a conference-wide co-creation activity. Together, EPIC attendees reflected on the dynamic relationship between resilience and power. Then, through a facilitated, real-time activity, we collectively generated an actionable power-redistribution framework—a set of strategies for EPIC members to embed social resilience in their work, whether at a major tech or consumer firm, a government agency, or a consultancy. A designed artifact that captures this framework was produced and distributed to the community. Citation: 2022 EPIC Proceedings pp. 338–344, ISSN 1559-8918, https://www.epicpeople.org/epic...

Intelligences

New Words for New Worlds

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Presentation slide: bright background design in orange, yellow, pink and blue. Text reads: "Our task: creating some new language that supports the principles of regeneration & resilience"
CATO HUNT SpaceDoctors Our current language of business is no longer fit for purpose. We are all sharply aware of the urgent need to transition into a regenerative economy, yet the words we use are holding us back. We must stop using vocabulary which roots us within a failing system and instead create a new lexicon of resiliency. By introducing new concepts and metaphors we can redefine organizational success through new values and behaviours which embody the changes we must make. Our Task During the conference we ran a 3 day hive mind where we came together to co-create some inspiring new language that supports the principals of regeneration and resilience. Our Framework To stimulate conversations we created a semiotic map which brings to life four different meaning worlds that exist within the concept of resilience. It was through the map that people generated their ideas – including specific words, phrases & questions Our Co-Created Response Collated language from the Mural board and physical...

Intelligences

Silence: Divergent Listening in the Anthropocene

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Photo of EPIC2022 attendees participating in "Silence"
GRANT CUTLER Independent Artist DOWNLOAD PDF Divergent listening describes a listening practice which seeks to raise consciousness or expand on our understanding of reality through the perception of sound. The multichannel sound installation, ‘Silence’, offers a space of quiet reflection, a place to ask questions, share, or rest. It is a room to imagine a more inclusive future, a world of resilience, energized by the clamorous singing of countless life forms. The installation invites participants to immerse themselves in the soundscapes of dozens of endangered natural environments and reflect on the change that an enhanced listening practice might bring to their own lives, work, and environments. The extremely rapid loss of biodiversity as a consequence of industrialization and climate change represents a reality-bending catastrophe. How will we return from such a departure from sustainable living? What voices will we choose to guide us? Divergent listening describes any listening practice which seeks to raise consciousness...

Intelligences

The Climate Crisis as Learning Space

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Figure 1. Photo showing totems such as figurines of a fly, a gecko, a petrified stone, a dish with a mermaid, and a tile with a centaur.
FLOOR BASTEN Independent Scholar MARC COENDERS Independent Scholar DOWNLOAD PDF It is becoming widely accepted that the climate crisis is a multiscale breakdown of interrelated ecological systems, caused by behavioural patterns that are unsustainable. As behaviours are largely informed by ideologies and as the latter are passed on by education, we submit that the climate crisis is also a crisis of learning. Our game invites participants to reflect on a variety of ways of human thinking and sensemaking, i.e. paradigms. Putting the so-called Western paradigm into perspective by presenting other ontologies and epistemologies, we challenge participants to rethink learning as situated against the backdrop of new insights into the nature of ‘situation’, an intra-emergent phenomenon in which humans and other-than-humans are agentically enmeshed (Barad, 2007). Context Societies worldwide are responsible for unsustainable lifestyles. When we trace how we got to this, we see a history in which antique Greeks’ speculations about...

Intelligences

When Resilience Becomes Resistance: Recultivating Intimacy through Relational Mindfulness

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Photo of EPIC2022 attendees watching a presentation by Chelsea Coe and Jonathan DeFaveri
CHELSEA COE Headspace JONATHAN DEFAVERI Headspace What forms of our pandemic adaptation have also become barriers to connection? In this wildcard session, around 40 EPIC attendees collectively examined the aspects of resilience that support—and sometimes hold us back from—the intimacy and safety we seek to create as ethnographers. Researchers have faced many barriers to building connection and compassion remotely as the stress in our communities piles up from the COVID-19 pandemic. When people share their pain, how do we protect the integrity of our work while also showing care? What are we doing to ensure our own resilience? How do we show care and connection again in person after time spent adapting to screens? In this session, the presenters began by sharing and deconstructing their own personal experiences of navigating this tension as researchers working in mental health through three lenses: connection, protection, and comfort/discomfort.  Working with Headspace meditation teacher Samantha Snowden, they then led...

Intelligences

Resilience: Lessons from a Period of Disruption

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Trace Thomas speaking at EPIC2022
TRACI THOMAS Boston Consulting Group What happens when the research lens is turned inward? As a Strategic Designer, I spend most of time planning for research to engage with people so I can better understand their needs and behaviors and turn research insights into actionable solutions. In this PechaKucha, I share a personal reflection of what resilience means to me and the insights I gleaned based on my own experiences during the pandemic. It’s a visual story about a journey of pain and loss, but also strength through discovery, experimentation, and adaptability. George Floyd protest in Nubian Square, Boston. May 2020. Photo by Traci Thomas Traci Thomas is a Principal Strategic Designer at the Boston Consulting Group. She informs CX strategy through the design of new and improved digital products and services using a human-centric approach that’s rooted in problem framing, ethnography, and iterative prototyping. She’s worked with clients across several industries including fintech, healthcare, hospitality, automotive,...

Intelligences

Tutorial: Using Ethnofutures to Build Resilience

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Tutorial: Using Ethnofutures to Build Resilience
Combine ethnography and forecasting techniques to produce grounded future scenarios for products, services, organizations, and communities. Instructors: JAN ENGLISH-LUECK (San Jose State University), ROD FALCON (Institute for the Future), ARMANDO AYALA (Meta), JASMINE LOW (Waymo), MELANIE BAILEY (Sage Intacct) Overview This video has been edited to protect the privacy of participants in the live tutorial. Integrate basic forecasting methods with ethnographic data collection and interpretation Integrate both data collection and analysis approaches to build resilience Discover use cases for applying these approaches in your own projects and organizations Ethnofutures combines ethnographic and forecasting techniques to produce grounded future scenarios for products, services, organizations, and communities. In this tutorial, researchers, designers, and strategists will learn the principles of ethnofutures and new tools for exploring and communicating resilient futures in their own work. The session reviews...

Intelligences

Tutorial: Spatial Ethnography – A Place-Based Approach to Research

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Tutorial: Spatial Ethnography - A Place-Based Approach to Research
Learn frameworks and techniques to understand how people engage with their physical and material environments and illuminate opportunities for innovation. Instructors: GEMMA JOHN, Founder & Director, Human City / University College London) & SOPHIE GOODMAN, Director of Research, SEC Newgate Overview This video has been edited to protect the privacy of participants in the live tutorial. Understanding how people use and engage with their physical surroundings adds depth and dimension to your ethnographic analysis, enabling you to design better products and services. This tutorial introduces you to new tools and frameworks that not only allow you to record how well a space performs from the perspective of the people who use it, but also provide insight into people’s preferences, habits and social contexts, leading to more impactful solutions for a resilient future. We’ll explore new techniques of participant observation by zooming in on patterns of use, pinch points, line of sight and material language,...

Intelligences

Tutorial: Research for Accessible and Inclusive Design

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Tutorial: Research for Accessible and Inclusive Design
Learn tools and strategies for integrating people with disabilities into your research and driving inclusive design. Instructors: GREGORY WEINSTEIN, Senior Accessibility Designer, CVS & ERICA MCCOY, Senior Accessibility Designer, CVS Overview This video has been edited to protect the privacy of participants in the live tutorial. Including people with disabilities in user research is fundamentally the right thing to do, because their experiences matter just as much as those of the non-disabled users that are typically represented in research. In addition, including people with disabilities in research makes good business sense, because it leads to products that are more inclusive and generally more accessible, usable, and delightful for everyone. This tutorial will help participants to expand their research practices by integrating people with disabilities into research. We will discuss barriers to conducting inclusive research and strategize about lean and robust ways to address institutional resistance. The...

Intelligences

Tutorial: Creating a Responsible AI Practice

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Learn models and principles to ensure organizations are creating, using, and deploying AI that coworkers, customers, and society can trust. Instructors: KATHY BAXTER, Principal Architect of Ethical AI Practice, Salesforce) & YOAV SCHLESINGER, Architect of Ethical AI Practice, Salesforce Overview This video has been edited to protect the privacy of participants in the live tutorial. Our lives are directed, enriched, influenced, and sometimes harmed by AI, in both obvious and not-so-obvious ways. Although many AI regulations have been implemented in the last few years and more regulation is coming, organizations cannot wait until they are compelled by external forces to develop responsible AI practices. For the sake of your business, customers, and society, everyone has a responsibility to ensure that the technology they help build, sell or deploy is fair, transparent and ethical. In this tutorial, we will walk participants through the steps of creating a responsible AI practice using a combination of lecture,...

Intelligences

Tutorial: Human-Centered Recruitment 101 – How to Connect with Quality Participants

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Tutorial: Human-Centered Recruitment 101
Learn best practices for human-centered recruitment and strategies to create positive experiences and improve research outcomes. Instructors: JENNY LEE, CECILIE LOVESTAM & JUSTINE DIAZ, Generation Focus Overview This video has been edited to protect the privacy of participants in the live tutorial. Recruiting engaged, reliable research participants in the right target group is critical for the success of a study. This interactive tutorial teaches best practices for human-centered recruitment and strategies to create positive experiences and add value for research participants, stakeholders and the recruiters. Attendees will learn a toolkit of actionable strategies to facilitate positive participant experiences that covers: Best practices for human-centered recruitment How to create and execute a recruitment plan Strategies for encouraging high-quality participation Ways to make recruitment practices accessible and inclusive How to implement snowball recruitment: asking for referrals and generating...

Intelligences

Tutorial: Frameworks and Foundations for Research Team Development

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Tutorial: Frameworks and Foundations for Research Team Development
Develop a targeted strategy for cultivating a successful research team and growing yourself as a leader. Instructor: MOLLY STEVENS, Senior Director of User Experience, Booking.com Overview This video has been edited to protect the privacy of participants in the live tutorial. Growing a successful research team within a complex organization can be overwhelming—and there are not many concrete resources. You must consider a variety of elements to grow yourself and your team, at the same time that you create value for customers and stakeholders. There are many moving pieces, and often not enough time to consider which elements might be essential for that next step. This tutorial will help you navigate where and how to focus your efforts as you evolve your impact. We will cover a framework that includes considerations around both individual people and groups of people, as well as cross-cutting elements such as the organization, the domain, and the research itself. Topics include: Yourself: What are the key attributes...