I set out on a mission to write atomic essays for 15 days on the topic of design ethnography. I only wrote 2500 words, not 3500, and 9 essays, not 15! So, I essentially failed the experiment and here are my learnings. By writing about design ethnography daily, I forced…

Finally, we reach the synthesis and storytelling phase of the project. Here are a few pointers to consider during this phase of a design ethnography project. Share back stories from the field: After gathering data from the field, the next step is to share back stories from the field in…

Here are a few pointers to think about when implementing ethnographic research projects. Researchers Consider who will be conducting research activities in the field — this matters because it is crucial to understand how power dynamics between researcher and participant would play out during the research process. It is the…

In the second phase of an ethnography, the main focus is on finding and recruiting the right participants for your study. The following are a few essential pointers to consider during this phase. Identifying participants: After the planning phase, you should have a sense of who would be the ideal…

During the planning phase, these are the main areas you should focus on to ensure you are setting yourself up to succeed while on the field, collecting data. Determine the methods: The type of methods you use in the study will depend on broadly three factors. First, the type of…

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty details of design ethnography. There are four phases of an ethnographic research project — planning, recruiting, implementation and analysis & storytelling. Planning Why is ethnography the appropriate methodology for this project? Why will the specific ethnographic method or combination of methods get us the data…

Before I get into the nitty-gritty details of designing, planning and executing a study, let’s cover some misconceptions people have about ethnography. It is qualitative: It’s a common misconception that data from an ethnographic study is only qualitative. However, using methods like surveys or even conducting large-scale social data science…

Before I get into the nitty-gritty details of designing, planning and executing a study, let’s cover some misconceptions people have about ethnography. It is qualitative: It’s a common misconception that data from an ethnographic study is only qualitative. However, using methods like surveys or even conducting large-scale social data science…

As a researcher, when conducting ethnography, the goal is immerse yourself in the experiences, thoughts and actions of people, cohorts of people, or even, yourself (auto-ethnography) in an empathic and reflexive way. You can use a range of methods to do so. …