On Digital Anthropology

Speaker
Jennifer A. Rode
Fellow, Digital Anthropology, University College London

When
-

Where
Newell-Simon Hall 1305 (Michael Mauldin Auditorium)

Description

There are a variety of forms of ethnography inside and outside HCI each with valid complementary contributions. This talk looks the practices of digital anthropology and examines possible contributions for HCI. It does so by overviewing key forms in HCI, as well as, examining key forms and attributes of an anthropological approach. In doing so it relates these practices to participatory design and the socio-technical gap, suggesting way ethnography might address these.

Speaker's Bio

Jennifer Rode holds a PhD from the University of California, Irvine, where she worked with Paul Dourish. In her dissertation she ethnographically studied the programmability of domestic technologies and examined gendered patterns of use. She holds a Masters in HCI, as well as, a BS in Anthropology both from Carnegie Mellon. She has ten years of experience in the HCI industry beyond her formal studies as a usability engineer, ethnographer and consultant, working on product design and evaluation. She previously worked as a usability engineer at TiVo evaluating its user interface and conducting ethnographic studies. Jennifer combines her industry and research experience to critically reflect on the practice of design as a whole, and how understanding of cultural theory and engaging in ethnographic practice can be combined to inspire design.

Speaker's Website
http://www.ics.uci.edu/~jen/

Host
Jennifer Mankoff