Design Anthropology: Object Culture in the 21st Century

Design Anthropology: Object Culture in the 21st Century

In author Alison J. Clarke’s introduction, she relays the story behind anthropologist Lucy Suchman’s involvement with Xerox in the 1980s. Widespread belief has it that Lucy led the breakthrough behind the big, green photocopier button that has now become stock standard on all photocopiers, regardless of brand. According to the business media, it was “a fine example of how design, transformed by anthropology, can enhance a product’s success.”

But the real story doesn’t quite go like that. Suchman, in fact, questioned the green button, arguing that it prevented users from becoming familiar with the secondary buttons and the other intents of the machine. It’s this insight and questioning of the user’s culture and experience that drives contemporary design. Where once design’s importance was placed on mass production of standardized products, it is increasingly moving towards a logical, theorized approach. As Clarke notes, “Observational techniques, human focus and emphasis on the machinations of the everyday are essential in interpreting the complex implications of consumer culture, technological interaction and media.”

Design thinkers contribute to the design anthropology discussion, with more than fifteen essays examining topics from the all-conquering Ikea to the Australian Aboriginal cars with colours that prompt a “social relation to ancestral landcape.” This is a book that successfully explores this burgeoning field and will interest designers, anthropologists, marketers and sociologists.

Alison J. Clarke (ed.), Springer Wien New York, 2010, 256pp. US$49.95.

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Published online: 5 Sep 2011
Words: Cassie Hansen

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Artichoke, June 2011

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