Archive for May, 2011

Anthropology, ethnography and you!

Posted by in anthropology, ethnography on May 20, 2011 | 4 comments

Most of us have at least heard of anthropology and ethnography, but how many of you have considered using it in your projects?  If I were to guess, I’d say not many, which is what I’m hoping to change with this brief article.

In the broadest and most literal sense, anthropology is the study of human beings:  What defines being human?  How did we evolve to where we are today?  What separates us from animals?  What differentiates groups of humans from each other?  In what ways are humans similar across cultures and societies?   To answer these questions, anthropologists look to those boring yet extremely complex everyday experiences that we all go through.

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The Best of SXSW 2011

Posted by in conferences and events on May 13, 2011 | 0 comments

The 25th anniversary of South by South West (SXSW) was an awe-inspiring spectacle. Officially, 19,364 people attended the interactive week, the first time the interactive portion has outsold the music. Over the 5-day conference I went to 20-odd talks and heard from speakers like Steve Krug, Jared Spool, Dan Ariely, Robert Hockman Jr, Seth Priebatsch and TOMS shoe creator Blake Mycoskie.

The main themes were centred around location awareness, twitter, gamification, social networking, metrics and beer. Underlining it all was the mega theme of user experience. Read more »

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