A Cultural Anthropologist's Approach to User Research
Details
User research is difficult. There is never enough time or money to gather a truly broad perspective so we do our best to gather what insights we can within our limited budget. Many now rely almost entirely on digital methods to get quick, cost-effective feedback that's "good enough". However, solely using digital can create blind spots, especially when it comes to understanding how people may react differently as a community as opposed to individually. So how do we get the best of both worlds?
Emilie Hitch is a cultural anthropologist and designer who has spent much of her career devising ways to do just that. One of her current projects is working with MnDot to better understand how transportation and road building projects affect the diverse communities along which they are built. In that effort, she has been employing unique research approaches to more successfully gather feedback from both those communities and the people who comprise them.
Join us as Emilie gives us insight into what to keep in mind when trying to accurately assess individual and community impacts of the work we do. She will give us tips on how to better structure research studies and will take us through some of the methods she has been employing along with what types of successes/pitfalls she has seen with each approach. All leading to us getting the chance to brainstorm some new ideas using the information we've learned.
Event Details
There will be time to socialize both before and after the event, and our awesome hosts Rêve will be providing drinks/snacks. Actual presentation will start at 6:30pm.
About Emilie
Emilie is an established leader in innovation, social impact and engagement research, and has worked with Human-Centered Design labs and strategy groups around the world. She began her career at OLSON, an agency where she pioneered its highly-regarded Brand Anthropology initiative and she most recently shifted her work to designing strategy and services for government agencies and organizations dedicated to making change for the common good. A graduate of Yale and the London School of Economics with degrees in anthropology, Emilie also holds a master’s degree in public affairs from the Humphrey School at the University of Minnesota. She is a singer-songwriter with Wailing Loons, an avid photographer, and an active philanthropist- serving on the board of directors for Eat for Equity and the Quetico Superior Foundation.
About Rêve Consulting
As a strategy and service design consultancy, Rêve helps people and organizations innovate and grow. Rêve works with some of the world’s biggest companies to co-create winning strategies and implement them in the marketplace. Passionate about catalyzing change, Rêve inspires their clients’ belief in what’s possible and unlock potential to design and deliver human-centered services, experiences and entire new businesses. Rêve's story:
A Cultural Anthropologist's Approach to User Research