What this publication covers
Discusses the use of ethnographic methods in service design and the loss of rigor that can occur when ethnography becomes a generic label for empathetic research. Two cases show that academic rigor and practical applicability can coexist.
How this reference can help
Use as a theoretical foundation for discussing methodological choices and research quality.
Curated by Ricardo Martins
View the original abstract 🇺🇸 🇬🇧
One of the core issues for service design is to put users in the centre of design activities. Service designers u se various e mpathic r esearch methods, o ften l oosely r eferred t o as b eing ethnographic methods. S ome o f t hese methods s hould not be v iewed a s e thnography, whereas some s hould. S ome o f t he rigour o f a cademic e thnographic methods ha s b een l ost i n t he appropriation o f e thnography. P ractitioners o ften s tate that th e r equirements o f r igour o f th e academic methods cannot be used in practice. In this paper we show that it is possible to do good and rigorous ethnographic research in design through two case studies . T his is achieved without sacrificing applicability, and without radically diverging from the ideals of academic ethnography.