Developments in Ethnography:

* The way in which ethnography has effectively become a mainstream technique and now looks to new technologies and sources of inspiration is highlighted in this presentation – ‘Never Mind the Ethno: Where Do We Go From Here’ - by Tom Rodden and Andy Crabtree.

* One attempt to obtain various forms of design relevant information and inspiration has taken the form of ‘cultural probes’

The originator of this approach – though he would probably disavow some of its manifestations – was Bill Gaver in the Presence project.

Cultural Probes and Technology Probes have also been used in the EQUATOR project – look at the various publications on probes.

* The use of video and GRID technologies as aspects of ethnographic research is explored in the EQUATOR project; in the King’s College ‘VidGid’ project; and in the NceSS project MixedMediaGrid

* Ethnographers have often struggled to make their work accessible to designers.

The use of ‘patterns of interaction’ – based on Alexander’s work was the focus of the POINTER project at Lancaster University.

Tom Erickson’s ‘The Interaction Design Patterns Page’ is probably the best resource on this topic. In particular look at Tom’s publications – such as ‘Supporting Interdisciplinary Design: Towards Pattern Languages for Workplaces.’