Design anthropology: An introduction

Design Anthropology is an emerging field and consists of multiple practices. in terms of university educations the institutional context fosters different approaches to teaching Design anthropology.1 at spire we worked together as part of a collaborative research team involving researchers with backgrounds in anthropology, design, engineering, language and communication, business and innovation studies. Design anthropology practices within this context aim towards instigating different ways of designing across different scales for example products, services, policies but also working relationships.2 as researchers carrying out research with both our students, the public and private sectors, we often find ourselves dealing with emergent situations engaging with peoples and places where a problem is not always given. in the introduction to this volume, we purport a concept of design that moves away from a problem-orientated approach, away from the standard trajectory of one situated context of use, one problem, and how to solve this. Rather, we argue, the world is more versatile than that; we need to include many contexts and practices. engaging with people that have different ways of knowing and doing (harris 2007) involves a transformation of self (nafus 2008). Working with difference, be it from within knowledge traditions of anthropology and design, or between the designer and user, also necessitates developing skills of engagement. Central to engaging with others is finding ways of imagining oneself into another person’s world. this however does not mean individuals participating want to be the other. rather they want to learn from each other’s practices in order to build a closer relation between practices. We would argue that in building closer relations between using and producing, designing and using, people and things, a move is required away from a problem-orientated approach towards designing. people often use things far beyond what designers expect. this would suggest that people actively intervene in configuring products and systems in the very processes of their consumption. a process of design thus is not to impose closure but to allow for everyday life to carry on. this way of designing according to Ingold requires flexibility, foresight and imagination within processes and practices