PCA Talks Presents "Design Ethnography" Hosted by Nicolas Nova
A few decades ago, designers started using ethnographic approaches to help them understand people and their culture in order to design better products. Over the years, designers in their work have repurposed a large array of theoretical concepts, methods and tricks. Based on a series of case studies, this talk will reflect on this evolution, and describes the notion of “design ethnography” in order to highlight the specificity of this approach.
Nicolas Nova is co-founder of the Near Future Laboratory, a research agency based in Europe and California, and professor at the Geneva School of Arts and Design (HEAD – Genève). His work lies at the intersection of ethnography, interaction design and futures research, with a particular interest in ubiquitous and mobile technologies and the cultural practices surrounding new media. He is interested in observing and documenting digital and new media practices, as well as creating design fictions, i.e. speculative designed objects exploring the experiences of near future. He has given talks and exhibited his work on the intersections of design, technology and the near-future in venues such SXSW, EPIC, the AAAS conference, O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference,NEXT, the design week in Milano, the Institute for the Future, and the MIT Medialab.
Nicolas holds an undergraduate degree in Cognitive Sciences (University of Lyon), an M.Sc in Educational Technologies and Human-computer Interaction (University of Geneva) as well as a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction from the Swiss Institute of Technology (EPFL, Switzerland). He was previously a visiting researcher at the Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, CA), and a researcher at the Media and Design Lab (EPFL, Switzerland). As well, Nicolas was one of the co-founders and curators of Lift Conference, a series of international events about digital culture, design and innovation.
PCA TALKS followed by refreshments
When
Tuesday, September 20th, 2016 l 6:30pm
Where
Paris College of Art
Room -101
15, rue Fénelon, 75010 Paris