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Representations and Requirements: The Value of Ethnography in System Design

Anderson, R. J.·1994·Human-Computer Interaction
DOI 10.1207/s15327051hci0902_1
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Abstract

For a number of reasons, systems designers have recently shown considerable interest in ethnography. For the most part, this has been used as a method for the specification of end-user requirements for systems. In this article, I argue that most of this interest is predicated in a misunderstanding of ethnography's role in social science. Instead of focusing on its analytic aspects, designers have defined it as a form of data collection. They have done this for very good, design-relevant reasons, but designers do not need ethnography to do what they wish to do. In the central part of this article, I introduce and illustrate an approach to analytic ethnography in human-computer interaction. In the latter sections I take this approach and show how it opens up the play of possibilities for design. These possibilities are illustrated by counterpoising a summary logic of organizational structure such as that associated with the calculus of efficiency and productivity with the local logics of daily organizational life.

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Metadata

Authors
Anderson, R. J.
Venue
Human-Computer Interaction
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
1994-06-01
Volume
9
Issue
2
Pages
151-182
ISSN
0737-0024 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1207/s15327051hci0902_1
OpenAlex
W2006622983
Cited by
314
References
1
FWCI
31.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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