Ethnography in Participatory Design
Andy Crabtree · 1998
Even the most cursory glance through recent proceedings of the biannual participatory design conference shows that ethnography is becoming an increasingly widespread technique in work-oriented design. This paper (1) explicates the rationale behind participatory designs turn to ethnography; (2) identifies central problems with the techniques employment from participatory designs point of view; (3) presents methodological solutions developed in the course of designing a prototype supporting the work activities of some 2500 potential end-users distributed in over 250 offices around the world. Emphasis is placed on attention to working language as a reproducible means of getting hands-on work and organisation, particularly in large-scale settings.