In Tokyo for EPIC – Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference. 6th edition. [Link]
I listened to all the talks and went to as many of the workshops and exhibitions as I could.
Here are the items on the agenda:
- context: the shift from a focus on product development to services, experiences, platforms
- how ethnography can enhance user-centered, human-centered design
- how ethnography can be a means of better understanding businesses and their cultures
- establishing the value of ethnography in the corporate world, why it’s worth paying for
- establishing the role of ethnography – just how research can inform design and decision making
- the community of ethnographers in industry – matters of professional identity, expertise
- how to conduct ethnography in a corporate and industrial context – issues of process, of method, of epistemology, of collaboration and teamwork, of the character of ethnographic knowledge – questions also of the relation of classical academic ethnography to market research, human factors, user-centered design, contextual and design research
Most discussion was about processes and methods, and getting those who matter to realize that ethnography can have a major impact on innovative design and better corporate management.
Here is the official program:
