This event is SOLD OUT.

"What people say is not what they do. Great design always connects with people. Designers inspire, provoke, validate, entertain and provide utility for people. To truly connect, designers need to have compassion and empathy for their audiences. Designers need to understand the relationship between what they produce and the meaning their product has for others. And they need to observe the people they are designing for in their own environments. Enter ethnography." – AIGA Ethnography Primer

Ethnography, traditionally defined as a narrative account of culture, is moving from a niche method for observing consumers in their "native habitats," to a mainstream method that meets a variety of business objectives, and is increasingly used as a basis for informed design, strategic, and brand decisions, and to give shape to the stories we tell.

Join Martha Cotton, Associate Partner//Design Research Lead and Robert Zolna, Associate Partner, Visual Communication Lead from gravitytank for an evening of discussion and practice on design research and its applications. The evening will begin with a quick lecture on the whys, whens, hows and whats around ethnography followed by a breakout session where participants will perform a short study, organize insights and apply them in the design of a user-centered artifact. All in an hour and a half. Learn how and why to incorporate research in your design process.

Martha is currently co-chair of EPIC (Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference), a global conference dedicated to furthering the practice of ethnographic methods to inform business and design. The 2009 conference will take place in Chicago. She is also adjunct faculty at Northwestern University where she lectures on ethnographic research methods to graduate students. Prior to joining gravitytank, Martha lead practices and teams for Herbst LaZar Bell, Hall & Partners, Sapient Corporation, and eLab LLC.

Robert leads the visual communication design team at gravitytank, helping turn complex strategies into compelling, audience-centered brands and stories. His experience covers 10 years in Japan helping clients such as Starbucks, Microsoft and Alias/Wavefront (now Autodesk) translate their brand messages to new audiences. He holds a Masters degree in Human-centered Communication Design from IIT’s Institute of Design where he teaches Visual Communication Systems. His work has appeared in books and magazines both here and abroad.

Sponsors: Forget Computers, Getty Images, The Buzz Company