Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, states that ethnic minority groups are the prime early adopters in Europe, thereby confirming ethnographic user research at Swisscom. “Ethnic minority groups are at the forefront of digital communications in the UK, with high levels…
Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human (Hardcover) by Tom Boellstorff Princeton University Press Hardcover, 2008, 328 pages Millions of people around the world today spend portions of their lives in online virtual worlds. Second…
Two of the three Nokia presentations at the LIFT Asia conference are now online. Raphael Grignani (Nokia Design, USA) talked about how Nokia Design addresses environmental and social issues including recycling, energy and making the benefits of mobile technology available…
The design of Intel’s new Classmate PC with its full touchscreen support, is based on observations and research collected about the way that the computers are used in real-world classroom settings., reports ars technica. In a video published by Intel…
A few days ago Dori Tunstall, Associated Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois in Chicago, was recently interviewed on the Australian radio programme By Design. What can designers learn from anthropologists? Our guest today believes they can learn…
A few months ago I wrote on an ethnographic research project undertaken by AP (Associated Press) and how it is influencing their reporting style. Now Ethan Zuckerman, a researcher on the impact of information technology in developing nations, has written…
Jan Chipcase, Nokia’s user researcher, is the latest contributor in the ongoing series of emerging markets articles that are being published on a weekly basis in Vodafone Receiver’s magazine. Chipchase stresses that his research is more than just “an attempt…
Three years ago we founded Experientia. It has been a very exciting ride since. In three years we worked with some of the best companies in the field and some of the best people too. Here they are in alphabetical…
As our lives become exposed to more and more technology, and companies become more and more interested in how technology affects us and how we interface with it, anthropologists have found themselves in increasing demand. Ken Banks of Kiwanja.net provides…
Two articles in design mind, the online and print magazine of frog design, are worth pointing out on this blog: 555 Million Subscribers & Counting As the competition grows in China’s mobile market, it is cultural dynamics that will determine…
MobileActive reports on two studies that explore how low-income people use mobile technology in Brazil and South Africa. This rise of mobile phone use by low-income and so-called ‘base-of-the-pyramid’ users raises a number of questions. Are low-income people using mobile…
Michael Krigsman (CEO of Asuret, Inc.) spoke with Dr. Natalie Hanson, a corporate anthropologist and ethnographer employed by SAP. Natalie manages a team of 30 people in the company’s global Business Operations group. Many IT failures are ultimately rooted in…
A couple of IIT graduate students (Gabriel Biller & Kristy Scovel) have put together an entertaining video primer on field interview techniques. The video runs about 30 minutes.
I always appreciate unusual perspectives so when Dr. Tina Basi, who consults with Intel’s Digital Health Group, contacted me about her research on power dynamics in ethnographic research, I was intrigued. She recently presented a paper on the matter, entitled…
Dawn Nafus, an Intel anthropologist and her team have created Intel’s “Technology Metabolism Index,” which shows how citizens of countries’ tech adoption exceeds or lags what one would expect given their levels of wealth. The map (hi-res pdf) shows fast…
The fact that young people are more adapt at using the latest technologies has less to do with expertise, experience or access, but more with their “non-dramatic” relation with these technologies, as evidenced by the way they deal with small…
Last year, Associated Press commissioned Baltimore-based Context-Based Research Group to conduct an ethnographic research study focusing on the news consumption habits of young digital consumers in six cities around the world. The drive for this research came from the recognition…
The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress is organising a four-part lecture series on “Digital Natives,” referring to the generation that has been raised with the computer as a natural part of their lives, especially the young…
Last week Genevieve Bell, a highly respected anthropologist and Director of User Experience within Intel’s Digital Home Group, gave the 2008 commencement speech at the UC Berkeley School of Information. She filled it with “anthropological advice” about how to approach…