Here you can see the class engaged in lively discussion about self-driving cars, ethical concerns, and the role of ethnography. That lovely arrow indicates where I usually situated myself for participation.
This piece co-authored by Dr. Brigitte Jordan, Dr. Christina Wasson, and myself discusses the importance of ethnographic research in industry, specifically high-tech industry such as self-driving cars.
Here is a small sample of the final report generated for the Nissan Research Center in Silicon Valley. My chapter discussed "The Car as a Means to Accomplish Work" and some of the design implications that may be taken into account when developing self-driving cars for active workers.
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Nissan - The Social Life of the Car
In the Fall of 2014 the Design Anthropology class at the University of North Texas conducted an ethnographic research project led by Dr. Christina Wasson (UNT) in conjunction with Dr. Brigitte Jordan from the Lab (Nissan Research Center in Silicon Valley). The class conducted drive alongs, in-depth interviews, and videorecorded participants in their cars to provide Nissan with some insight into what people are actually doing when they are driving. This research culminated in a final report with illustrated design recommendations for self-driving cars that may or may not be used by the Lab in their future engineering endeavors.
Photo: taken from Google.com | originally posted on edmunds.com
