[Sigia-l] Ethnographic research?

[Alexandre Castro e Silva - Usability]

Hello all.

This is my first contribution to this list, but I've been lurking around for
a while.

My name is Alex Castro e Silva, I'm 29 and I own a small Usability
consultant firm in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

We've conducted two Contextual Inquiries over the past year, coincidentally
for two major telecom companies. In both occasions, we were responsible for
redesigning the Information Architecture of the Call-Center's intranets and,
in order to do so properly, we felt it necessary to fully understand how a
call-center worked and how the intranets were actually used in the
day-to-day activities.

I've just delivered my final report on the last inquiry we made just last
week. It was conducted over two months, on two different call-centers on two
Brazilian capitals. Very interesting, very enlightening work. I'll certainly
be trying to sell more of those.

I'll check out those books. I did it all based on sheer gut and some
undergrad credits on Etnography.

The Brazilian Usability and Information Architecture scene is minimal and I
confess I feel lonely. I have a blog on Usability but since there's almost
no one on Brazil to read it, I'll be posting in English from now on, and
I'll also be gradually translating the old posts. Show up, I could use some
company.

All the best,

Alex

Alexandre Castro e Silva
alexandre at usability.com.br
Consultor | Usability
(55 21) 2447 5716
(55 21) 9809 4179


Usability: http://www.usability.com.br
Guia de Usabilidade: http://www.sobresites.com/usabilidade
Blog de Usabilidade & Arquitetura da Informação:
http://blogdeusabilidade.blogspot.com








----- Original Message -----
From: "Christina Wodtke" <cwodtke at eleganthack.com>
To: "SIGIA-L" <sigia-l at asis.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2004 12:33 AM
Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] Ethnographic research?


> We do quite a bit of ethnography, and recently it shaped choices in
> shopping, photos and search.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Arthur Fink" <arthur at arthurfink.com>
> To: "SIGIA-L" <sigia-l at asis.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 9:10 AM
> Subject: [Sigia-l] Ethnographic research?
>
>
> Most of us tend to test/refine our designs in lab settings.
>
> A friend of mine with a strong background in anthropological ethnographic
> research asked me if these disciplines are ever used in interaction design
> projects ... either in the US or abroad (perhaps at places like Philips
> Design).  Now she's got me interested as well.
>
> So ... any knowledge of or thoughts about this?
>
>
> Arthur Fink
>
>
>     Arthur Fink Consulting  ·  arthur at ArthurFink.com
> ····························································
>      Ten New Island Avenue  ·  Listening to users
> Peaks Island, Maine 04108  ·  Designing for people
> http://www.ArthurFink.com  ·  User interfaces that work
>               207.766.5722  ·  Progress training + consulting
>
>
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