corporate & business anthropology

How anthropological research can reduce the paper usage in offices

Published on November 15, 2007 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, applied anthropology, corporate & business anthropology, design anthropology, technology

(Links updated 14.2.2025) Another example of anthropologists in product development: As a consequence of anthropological research, Xerox is developing a new kind of paper where the printed information simply disappears within about 16 hours, allowing the paper to be reused.

Why this? Xerox-anthropologist Brinda Dalal, an anthropologist at Xerox, found out that 21 percent of copier documents ed up in the recycling bin on the same day they are produced. In most offices, paper is used as a medium of display rather than storage. Paper is only only printed out or copied when needed for meetings, editing and annotating, or reading away from a computer. The result is, of course, an enormous quantity of waste paper and environmental problems.

>> read the whole story on ZDNet

Actually, the New York Times wrote about this self-erasable paper one year ago. They called anthropologist Brinda Dalal for “garbologist”. She told, she was surprised by the results: “Nobody looks at the ephemeral information going through people’s waste baskets.”

>> Some papers by Brinda Dalal

Timo Veikkola – The Anthropologist as Future Specialist at Nokia

“The science of ethnography is an ideal tool to designing mobile phones”

Anthropologists find out why we (don’t) buy organic food

Ethnography, cross cultural understanding and product design

(Links updated 14.2.2025) Another example of anthropologists in product development: As a consequence of anthropological research, Xerox is developing a new kind of paper where the printed information simply disappears within about 16 hours, allowing the paper to be reused.…

Timo Veikkola – The Anthropologist as Future Specialist

Published on July 2, 2007 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, corporate & business anthropology, design anthropology, technology

Things are changing: See how an anthropologist is introduced in this story: “As many anthropologists these days he holds a strategic position inside a global corporation.” Juliana Xavier writes about Timo Veikkola – anthropologist at Nokia. His jobtitle: “Senior Future Specialist”:

As Senior Future Specialist at Nokia Design, he looks at society to comprehend how there are going to be shifts in behavior and culture that can inspire their design team. Timo is a future teller.

Veikkola was one of the speakers at an innovation conference in London (by PSFK). Juliana Xavier has been there and writes that this was the second time in less than an year that an anthropologist came to speak at a planning/marketing/advertising conference:

Last year, Bob Deutsch from Brain Sell (…) talked about treating people as people rather than as consumers. Timo talked about that as well, but also about that as a crucial part of his work at Nokia, or better saying: about how to envision the future through trends, observation and – an expression that I liked a lot – informed intuition

(…)

Timo’s trend team is composed of a diversity of people from Brazil to India, from Chile to China – everyone sitting in the same room. It is a way to cultivate the atmosphere in the office, an atmosphere of global and cultural diversity. A good observer of the present wants to be close to people, is keen to get involved and has to seek stimulation through real experience.

>> read the whole article by Juliana Xavier

Veikkola’s presentation is available online

>> Watch Timo Veikkola, Future Strategist at Nokia, on a Vision of our Future at the PSFK Conference London

INTEL and Microsoft conference “a coming-out party” for ethnography

Ethnography, cross cultural understanding and product design

Anthropology Matters – New issue out on anthropology of science and technology

Things are changing: See how an anthropologist is introduced in this story: "As many anthropologists these days he holds a strategic position inside a global corporation." Juliana Xavier writes about Timo Veikkola - anthropologist at Nokia. His jobtitle: "Senior Future…

Eight anthropology careers: Life outside the university

Published on May 14, 2007 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, applied anthropology, corporate & business anthropology, design anthropology

Where do anthropologists work outside the university? And how do you get a relevant job? Andreas Lloyd has been at the annual Career day at his old anthropology department (University of Copenhagen) and gives ut a great summary of eight presentations and eight ways to make an anthropology career.

He writes about both old and new careers. Inger Merete Hansen for example is now close to 60, has combined her anthropology degree with primary school teaching:

Anthropology gave her both a method and outlook which proved vital to her work, especially in order to work against the heavy-handed and indirectly racist school bureaucracy and work towards new ways of integrating immigrant children into the Danish society.

Kirsten Becker works to build relationships between the department and the “real world” outside. She told about the growing popularity of our discipline. Anthropology is being hyped at all of the conferences on innovation these days:

“Before, nobody really paid attention when I spoke at conferences, but now everybody shushes and listens to every word. Being an anthropologist is like being a shaman – the industry thinks we have some secret magic they need. My job is to maintain that impression.” Another grin.

Anne Weber is working as a recruiter. She argued that anthropology is just as much a way of personal development as it is an academic discipline. This is because anthropologists invest themselves so much in their work, learning new ways of being present, of observing and of being surprised. Thus, for an anthropologist, it is much more a matter of personality that it is about grades and recommendations when applying for jobs in the real world.

The most repeated and probably most important refrain was, Lloyd writes, mot offer up some easy and shrinkwrapped solution, but saying “I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do know how to find out.”

>> read the whole text “Anthropology Careers” on Andreas Lloyd’s blog

Job offer: Anthropologists needed for development of tools for ageing populations

Published on February 22, 2007 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, applied anthropology, corporate & business anthropology, interdisciplinary

Anthropologist Simon Roberts at INTEL in Ireland asked me to blog about this job offer (pdf) that actually is a good example of applied anthropology. “The jobs will suit people who are interested in working at the exciting intersection of technology, medicine, gerontology and policy”, he writes:

Successful candidates would undertake ethnographic research with three ageing cohorts, mainly in the Dublin area. They would also examine the wider contexts of ageing in Ireland – community services/projects.

Their research would inform the work of world class clinicians and technologists who are developing technologies of a preventative and diagnostic nature – for use both within a clinical and domestic setting.

The researchers will be expected to produce agenda setting research, which influences the design of tools and interventions suitable for ageing populations and communicate their work and findings to TRIL members and a broader audience through peer reviewed journals and other means.

The jobs are based in the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology in Galway.

The jobs have arisen due to the recent announcement by Intel and the Irish Government of a research collaboration, known as TRIL Centre. TRIL is a multidisciplinary research programme is underpinned by open source technology platform development and informed by ethnographic research of ageing and healthcare.

>> read the job advert (pdf)

We know Simon Roberts from his former blog Ideas Bazaar.

By the way, feel free to use the antropologi.info forum / pin board to announce job offers or call for papers

INTEL is hiring more than 100 anthropologists

Study: “Holders of social anthropology Ph.D.s are highly employable”

Anthropologists find out why we (don’t) buy organic food

Office Culture – good overview about corporate anthropology in Financial Times

Anthropologist Simon Roberts at INTEL in Ireland asked me to blog about this job offer (pdf) that actually is a good example of applied anthropology. "The jobs will suit people who are interested in working at the exciting intersection of…

This is conference blogging!

Published on October 4, 2006 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, corporate & business anthropology, Open Access Anthropology and Knowledge Sharing, University / Academia

Why haven’t there been such blog posts about the recent EASA-conference (European Association of Social Anthropologists)? Anthropologist Grant McCracken has presented a paper at the EPIC-conference (Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference) and written three blog posts, among others about his presentation (and the usefulness of ethnography):

In my presentation on Monday at EPIC 2006, I proposed that we might want to take advantage of the “extra data” effect. Ethnography is often most useful when we don’t know what we need to know. The method is good at casting the net wide. We ask lots of questions. Collect lots of data. Apply lots of theory and interpretation. Eventually, we begin to see what it is we need to see. At the end of this process we find ourselves in possession of a lot of data we cannot use. This “extra data” is an opportunity.

>> read his whole post