Three skills that make anthropologists great cross-functional team players
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Three skills that make anthropologists great cross-functional team players

A sought after attribute of researchers from private companies is an aptitude to work cross-functionally, or work with colleagues outside of those from your own domain. Anthropologists are well poised to understand the importance of – and possess the ability to – embed themselves in teams and build relationships across them. In academics, the term…

AnthroJobs of the Week, 18 September 2019

AnthroJobs of the Week, 18 September 2019

UX and design research jobs are all the rage right now for applied anthropologists seeking out career opportunities. You’d be hard pressed to locate applied positions that ask for experience in ethnography or an educational background that includes anthropology that doesn’t also include UX or user research in its description and I believe anthropology departments…

Learn This; Do That: Translating Anthropology to UX Research
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Learn This; Do That: Translating Anthropology to UX Research

Anthropologists are particularly suited to be qualitative UX researchers, and applied Anthropologists are well trained for careers in industry. I can only write about my personal experience, but if you earned a degree in anthropology, I would love to hear how similar or different your experiences have been. At the University of Memphis’ Masters of Applied Anthropology Program, we learned how to execute research methods and analysis, determine which method was best suited to particular research questions, and how to manage stakeholders. That’s all you really need to know to start your career as a User Experience Researcher (UER).

Master’s degree in Anthro? Take the survey and tell us how you are doing

Ten years ago, the AAA sponsored a survey of anthropology Master’s degree holders. The insights gained were invaluable in understanding what graduates were doing for their lives and careers. The survey report can be found at http://s3.amazonaws.com/rdcms-aaa/files/production/public/FileDownloads/pdfs/cmtes/copapia/upload/Changing-Face-of-Anthropology-Final2.pdf. This summer, with NAPA support, a group from the University of North Texas is running a follow-up survey to…

“Do You Do UX Research?”: Articulating User Experience Research and  Its Value to Clients

“Do You Do UX Research?”: Articulating User Experience Research and Its Value to Clients

As anthropologists, whether we are undergraduate students or are pursuing/have pursued masters or doctorate degrees, whether we work in industry or in academia, we have a lot in common with each other: we learn the history of our discipline, the methods and theories, and we all learn to do ethnographic research. We have a common language and shared understanding of terms. Beyond our disciplinary boundaries, however, language and terminology get less common and understanding is less shared.

Design by Anthropologists: A new NAPA blog

Image by Alex Andrews via Pexels NAPA is pleased to announce the launch of an informative and important monthly blog, Design by Anthropologists. The blog’s purpose is to chronicle current explorations in and developments around the interface of anthropology, design, user research and experience, and related endeavors. If you are curious about what this relatively…