tutorial

Post–Human-Centered Design: Evolving to a Societal Scale

Instructor: JOHN PAYNE Description This video presents the lecture portion of a half-day tutorial that included a series of participatory exercises. Over the past few decades, human-centered design has been at the center of a design renaissance, providing a transparent framework that exposes our rationale and demystifies our process. But a focus on the "user," their "problems," and "needs" is not sufficient to understand how products operate at a societal scale. In the increasingly complex, interdependent technological environment we are called to design for, we need to imagine the implications of the products and services we design, as we work. This tutorial reviews a variety of perspectives on this topic, provides a framework for understanding multiple levels of product impact, and covers some initial methods we can employ to work with empathy—not just for the "user," but for every participant in the system we seek to change. Topics include: An overview of Maeda’s three categories of design and their shortfalls Classical...

Tutorial: Doing Ethnography of Data Science & Algorithmic Systems

Instructor: IAN LOWRIE Description Approx 1 hr 43 min. This video presents the lecture portion of a half-day tutorial. Case studies and a bibliography are provided for your use. Instructor Ian Lowrie describes the organizational and technological aspects of modern data pipelines, framing data science ethnographically as a knowledge practice and data scientists as a particular kind of expert. He also explores methodological approaches to studying data work in real-world contexts. Participants learned to: Think ethnographically about data work as a knowledge practiceDevelop methodological strategies for studying data workChart the organizational and technological components of data infrastructureInterpret the mindset, jargon, and practical orientations of their data scientist and developer colleaguesUnderstand how algorithmic systems and data analytics impact organizational structures, work practices, and business models In the second half of the tutorial, participants worked collaboratively to develop a pitch for...

Creating a Strategic Role for Research in Your Organization

An EPIC Talk with MEENA KOTHANDARAMAN & ZARLA LUDIN, twig+fish Approx 78 min Human-centered research practices embedded in business contexts have matured to a problematic inflection point. Called upon as a means of finding answers to human complexities, qualitative research is often measured against misappropriated metrics of success. Time, money, efficiency, and return on investment have been artificially applied to…

Tutorial: Ethnographic Research Design

SAM LADNER Amazon Ethnography is closely associated with the core qualitative methods of interviewing and observation. But ethnographers in business often work with a broad range of other methods, from video and diary studies to surveys and sensors. This tutorial examines the relationship between research and design, producing data and producing things. It considers the research process as a design process and a wide range of methods across the research and design spectrum. Participants engaged in active exercises to examine creativity, complexity, compromise and choice in research design, and consider the role of stakeholder thinking. Finally, the tutorial encouraged researchers to conceptualize their work as a long-term endeavor beyond the boundaries of a discrete project, with tips for organizing data and files as well as creating quality criteria. Participants were asked to prepare for this workshop by exploring and perhaps journaling about past projects that did not provide clients with their desired outcomes. They considered...

Tutorial: Human Sciences and Value Creation—Building Transformative Value Propositions

JOHANNES SUIKKANEN Gemic Overview Where do I find new sources of value in a heavily competed industry? How can I build more compelling value propositions with transformative potential? Integration of the human sciences into corporate business development practices enables discovery of new sources of value. Unlike traditional business practices, the human sciences situate emergence of meaningful value in a wider societal context by fostering deeper inquiry into history, human patterns and social systems that frame consumption. In this tutorial, participants will gain proficiency in exploring and identifying new business opportunities and delivering meaningful value propositions through studying the social, cultural and habitual aspects of human life. This tutorial demonstrates the merits of centering various aspects of humanities and social science at the core of corporate innovation and renewal efforts. The tutorial consists of a lecture and an interactive session in which participants will learn through case studies...

Tutorial: Analysis in Human-Centered Design

CAREY PALMER Northern Trust JOELLEN KAMES Northern Trust Overview This tutorial will give you a framework for understanding the important role of analysis in human-centered design and teach 4 key methods for practicing analysis. The framework proposes a model for selecting and utilizing specific methods that are either top-down or bottom-up, and are practiced in groups or by individuals—but it also stresses importance of creativity, as no linear process will always guarantee meaningful insights. The framework is also a mechanism to help stakeholders understand the outputs from analysis, and enable them to evaluate findings as part of the big picture, rather than just ingesting “the answer.” The ambiguity that accompanies analysis and synthesis can be concerning to extended team members and stakeholders. Engaged stakeholders often want early insights from the field, even hours after an interview concludes. The framework offered in this tutorial will: 1) help stakeholders understand the iterative nature of...

Tutorial: Fundamentals of Observational Research

MIKE YOUNGBLOOD Youngblood Group Overview This tutorial offers a solid foundation in the art of observation as a field research method for human-centered design and innovation. An expanded, hands-on version of Mike Youngblood's popular EPIC Talk on observational research, it will be valuable for those who are new to this method as well as more seasoned observers seeking an effective toolkit they can use to train others. The tutorial will cover: four core techniques for conducting observational research in a wide range of settings basic observational data collection effective note taking selecting the right tools and methods ethical considerations related to observing others Discussion will draw on real-life examples from diverse settings, including Mike's own research in homes, bars, restaurants, car dealerships, urban neighborhoods, medical environments, and more. After instruction and group discussion, tutorial participants will have the chance to practice using specific techniques during video...

Tutorial: Virtual Reality and Ethnographic Research

KARL MENDONCA Amazon Music ADELE RAY Filmmaker; Berkeley City College OverviewWith growing interest across domains and industries in Virtual Reality (VR), this seminar style and hands-on tutorial gives participants essential skills for producing and incorporating virtual reality 360 video into ethnographic research. Participants will: Develop a critical understanding of VR by understanding it within a longer history of visuality and media studies. Learn about different workflows covering capture (cameras, rigs), editing (software) and distribution (viewing platforms) as well as technical elements behind successful VR (frame rates, camera movement, avoiding motion sickness). Review examples of VR based research methodologies such as diary studies, walk-throughs, contextual interviews, etc. Work hands-on with a VR camera to complete a short project based on a theme or set of research questions. This video includes only the presentation portion of the tutorial. Assigned Readings: Remediation...

Tutorial: Getting Started with Sensor Data

Tutorial Instructor: DAWN NAFUS, Intel Overview Activity trackers, instrumented environments, and other kinds of electronic monitors offer new possibilities and new challenges for ethnographic research. They provide a trace of what goes on when the researcher isn't there, and can help research participants reflect on their lives in a new way. In the right contexts, sensor data can help bridge the gap between ethnographic and data science approaches. At the same time, sensors can be challenging to set up, and occasionally mislead if the context is poorly understood. This tutorial will help you determine when and how to use sensor data in an ethnographic research practice. We'll talk about some of the practical pitfalls to watch out for, when you do and don't need a data scientist, and some of the trickier aspects of inviting research participants to reflect on the data collected about them. Participants will learn how to: Assess sensors for maximum research value Ensure the research setup is feasible Wrangle data...

Tutorial: Agile for Researchers

CARRIE YURY BeyondCurious CHRIS YOUNG BeyondCurious Overview Agile is taking the design world by storm, and requiring teams—including researchers—to rethink how we communicate, plan, and act. But is it possible, or even desirable, to apply agile methodologies to ethnographic research? We respond with a resounding yes! While agile requires some new skills, and a different mindset, in our experience by adapting to agile researchers can have an even greater impact on teams. In this tutorial you will: Plan your own agile research sprints •     Resourcing, sprint planning, meeting cadence, reviews/retrospectives Become familiar with the terminology used by agile teams •     Epics, user stories, stand-ups Get an overview of common tools used to facilitate agile research, for example •     Trello, Jira, Trint, ScheduleOnce, InVision Learn about the frameworks BeyondCurious uses to guide Agile research •     MVF, Experience Principles, XIS Develop...

Tutorial: Visualization Principles for Talking Less and Communicating More

ROBERT ZOLNA University of Illinois at Chicao Overview A simple understanding of the principles of good information and visualization design can help in the presentation, comprehension, and socialization of your research insights and recommendations. ‘Simple’ means a point of view that the aesthetics of your deliverables should never say “look at me” but rather support content by saying “look at this.” This tutorial will give you a foundational understanding of good design techniques for creating clear and impactful research stimulus and reporting. The session is tailored for researchers with little or no design experience looking to improve their visual design skills, create impact by communicating visually, and build empathy with your designers and design teams. Using examples and case studies from professional practice as inspiration, this course will expose participants to a variety of topics, all relevant to their professional practice: Emphasizing the user voice in storytelling Using typography...

Tutorial: MBA Basics – How to Think Like a Business

Tutorial Instructors: CAROLYN HOU ReD Associates EMIL STIGSGAARD FUGLSANG ReD Associates Download PDF SUMMARY This tutorial will provide you with a foundational understanding of how businesses operate from financial, organizational, and strategic standpoints. However, rather than providing you with only a list of terminologies or a toolbox of frameworks, the goal of this course is to help participants gain an intuition around how to think like a business – especially when coming from a social science background and practice. The course is designed for social scientists, designers, academics, corporate innovation teams, and other non-MBA professionals looking to enter the corporate world or make a bigger impact in their organizations. Throughout the course, participants will learn how to feed this knowledge back into their own work and ethnographic approaches, particularly around framing a project and turning insights into credible and impactful recommendations. Using Whole Foods as a case study, this course will cover:...

Tutorial: Structuring Analysis for Innovation

Tutorial Instructors: MARCELO FAGUNDES INSITUM MURILO GOMES INSITUMDownload PDF TUTORIAL DESCRIPTION It’s no news that human-centered innovation has become a common internalized practice of many organizations around the world. In the last decade, companies have begun developing their own innovation departments in addition to building teams to tackle new, complex business challenges—often employing the Double Diamond design process in these endeavors.1 The Double Diamond design process was mapped by the UK Design Council in 2007 through an in-depth study of the design processes used in eleven global brands. Divided into four distinct phases, it maps the divergent and convergent stages of the design process to illustrate the different modes of design thinking.2 The Discover phase serves to gather inspiration to develop new solutions through ethnography and several research methods. Throughout INSITUM’s many years of helping hundreds of companies develop their human-centered innovation culture, we have come to the realization...

Tutorial: Ethnographic Thinking for Wicked Problems – Framing Systemic Challenges and Catalyzing Change

Tutorial Instructors: JAY HASBROUCK Hasbrouck Research Group CHARLEY SCULL Practica Group Contributor: LISA DICARLO, Brown University SUMMARY In this interactive tutorial, participants explored ways in which ethnographers can have an expanded role in addressing social issues and other wicked problems. In particular, it explored how ethnographic thinking can frame problems and catalyze change. Participants were first provided with a grounding in ways to approach systemic challenges and social entrepreneurship, including discussion of some successful roles ethnographers have played as part of inter-disciplinary teams. Then, instructors introduced three case studies (and frameworks of systems within them) that participants later used as material for exploring how broader applications of ethnographic thinking might work in real world settings. Those included: labor practices in the seafood industry, encouraging energy conservation, and managing the refugee crises. In the second part of the tutorial, participants divided into groups...

Tutorial: Semiotics – A User’s Guide to Seeing Differently

Tutorial Instructors: CATO HUNT Space Doctors CLEM MCCULLOCH Space Doctors Download PDF SUMMARY Semiotic insight powerfully complements ethnographic approaches. Semiotics, the study of signs and cultural meaning, has been gaining ground in the world of commercial research. Semiotics has also been successfully melded together with ethnographic and other cultural approaches, especially in the UK and Europe. This tutorial equipped participants with the tools, techniques and hands-on experience needed to begin their own semiotic research endeavors. Opening with a grounding in semiotic theory, we then focused on building practical skills through ‘live decoding’ of a cultural theme. We began by learning how to ‘decode’ – exploring how a semiotic close read analysis can reveal a deeper understanding of what is really being said. Crucially, we discussed the chasm that often appears between intended meaning and received meaning, especially within brand communication. We then introduced the idea of codes (themes, or clusters...