Design ethnography with activity theory

Frederick van Amstel http://fredvanamstel.com

Architecture and Design SchoolDigital Design

PUCPR

Malinowski named ethnography the study of exotic people through their native point of view

Key ethnographic concepts

• Ethnocentrism (judging other cultures from yours)

• The Other (appreciating different people)

• Estrangement (looking from distance)

• Representation (implications of describing people)

• Point of view (taking different perspectives)

• Bias (avoid framing reality as you’d like to be)

Ethnography moved from the exotic to the familiar. Hilaine Yaccoub do ethnography in one of Rio de Janeiro’s favela.

Design ethnographies try to uncover user needs and find new opportunities. Jan Chipchase studied phone usage for Nokia.

Design ethnographies generate insights from observations. (Nicolas Nova study of design ethnography)

Nokia discovered phone rental stores in Africa kept collective address books. They created a new model with this function.

Motorola learnt that ringtones should be very loud to be heard by Indians in their noisy metropolis

How design ethnography works

Questions, hypothesis, interests

Direct observation, interview, workshop

Insights, needs, ideas,

conceptsInterpretation, data analysis,

reflection

Sharing findings,

cocreating

(it is kinda messy!)

This is how it looks like

Information overload: each node is a note taken for my thesis’ ethnographic study (Van Amstel, 2015)

The role of theory in ethnography

• Some researchers are against starting from them to avoid bias

• I prefer to start with a theory because it leads to:

• Focused observations

• Simpler data analysis

• Knowledge cocreation (cross-studies bridge)

• There are limitations (bias, jumping too soon to conclusions, distorting data to fit the framework)

Common theories used in design ethnography

• Activity Theory (which is the focus here)

• Actor-Network Theory

• Cognitive Engineering (mental models)

• etc...

Activity theory

“My own existence is social activity.”Karl Marx

Mediation

Stimulus Response

Everything you do is mediated by a socially constructed sign

Sign

Stimulus-response direct relationships do not exist in human behavior due to symbolic mediation

Social construction of signs

1.The baby waves his hand randomly

2. The mother believing he wants the

toy brings a nearby toy

3. The baby learns the meaning of the pointing sign

Learning comes from engaging in an activity (Território do Brincar, 2015)

Cultural historic activity theory (CHAT)

Engeström, 1987

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Let’s analyze an activity

Based on Korpela (2004)

Intensive care of premature babies

What are people transforming?

People Object

Which results do they expect?

People Object Result

Which are the means?

People Object Result

Instruments

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People: baby, mother, nursesObject: the baby’s health

Result: a healthy child and a happy motherInstruments: baby-warmer, inhaler, antibiotics

First analysis

Baby’s health: the object is a sum of multiple representations (sensor values) of the same material (the baby’s body)

Instruments

Object representation (baby’s health)

Object material (baby’s health)

Nurses use representations to coordinate their interference in the material

How do they form a community?

People Object Result

Instruments

Community

The baby care team forms a sensitive community, kind to mothers and family. They try not to get too attached to babies.

How do they organize work?

People Object Result

Instruments

Community Division of laborRules

The doctor devises a care plan and nurses must keep track of what they are doing (rules + division of labor)

Activity system model

People Object Result

Instruments

Community Division of laborRules

Activity inquiry guide• What is the activity?

• Where does it take place?

• Who are the people carrying it on?

• What are they trying to transform?

• What is the expected result from transformation?

• What are the instruments used?

• How do people divide work?

• How do they control and regulate work?

• How do they form a community?

How to collect and organize evidence of

activity

Data collection instruments

• Direct observations (body)

• Notebook (Moleskine like)

• Smartphone (camera, audio recording)

• Collected documents (folders, papers, etc)

• Inquiry protocols (eg: activity inquiry guide)

• Semi-structured interview topics (notebook)

The big picture

Mothers, nurses and doctors

Baby’s health

Healthy baby

Baby warmer

Baby care team Monitoring, evaluating,

spiritual support

Sterile environmentStable temperature

Activity’s space

Spaghetti diagram Place quality evaluation

Activity’s people

Stakeholder mapping Personas

Activity’s object

Mind map

Play-doh model

Activity’s results

Value proposition canvas

Fishbone diagram

Activity’s instruments

Actor-network diagram What is in your bag photo

Activity’s division of labor

Sequential diagram Isometric infographic

Activity’s rules

Figure 16.2. A handoff chain for the SEO case.

PREVIOUS REPORT

ACCOUNT MANAGER EMAILS SEO SPECIALIST

WITH QUESTIONS

SEO SPECIALISTIMs WITH OTHER

SPECIALIST

ACCOUNT MANAGER EMAILS CLIENT FINAL DRAFT OF REPORT +

COVER EMAIL

SEO SPECIALIST GENERATES

DRAFT REPORT

SEO SPECIALIST EMAILS CUSTOMER

RE CUSTOMER SPECIFICS

ACCOUNT MANAGER AND SEO MEET WITH

CLIENT, PRESENT POWERPOINT SLIDES

SEO SPECIALIST EMAILS REPORT

TO ACCOUNTMANAGER

SEO SPECIALIST TALKS WITH OTHER

SPECIALIST

ACCOUNTMANAGER TALKSWITH SPECIALIST

Workflow diagram Decision diagram (algorithm)

Activity’s community

Community mapping Community collage

Return to the big picture

Mothers, nurses and doctors

Baby’s health

Healthy baby

Baby warmerOximeter

Baby care team Monitoring, evaluating,

spiritual support

Sterile environmentStable temperature

Advanced topics

• Connection between multiple activities

• Contradiction

• Object expansion

• Participatory ethnography

Thank you!Frederick van Amstel

http://fredvanamstel.comArchitecture and Design School

Digital Design PUCPR