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Michelle Strauss 

Professor Dunham  

ENGL 1201 

20 May 2019 

Research Proposal on Design Anthropology 

From my understanding, design anthropology is simply the study and research of symbolic 

meanings and the history behind the functionality of products that have affected society to 

impact future concepts. It can further be described as:  

“Design anthropology describes the practices of anthropologists who collaborate with 

designers and team members from other disciplines in order to develop new product ideas. 

The primary contribution of the anthropologists lies in the ethnographic research they conduct 

with users, or potential users, of the product being envisioned, in order to learn about the 

everyday practices, symbolic meanings, and forms of sociality with which a successful new 

product would need to articulate. Designers and other members of product development 

teams draw on findings from such research to develop design ideas that fit the lived 

experience of intended users.” – Wasson 2016:1​. 

SECTION ONE 

I have become super interested in the exploration of historical design ever since I began 

to fully study product development within the last couple of years. My interest in the study of 
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anthropology (that is focused in design) peaked when I attended a lecture on trend reports and 

ethnography last fall. The topic of conversation was centered on product trend reports, 

consumer insights, and how archaeology and ethnography have impacted the future of product 

development. Brooke Brandewie, an adjunct faculty member at DAAP, led the conversation 

one day in my User-centered Design course. Although the course was at night and no one 

really wanted to be there, I somehow felt laser focused on what she was saying and was 

absolutely pumped to dive into the conversation. 

As she spoke about the consumer reports she created while working at various jobs 

and through her own research for a patented shirt she engineered for women going through 

cancer treatments, she drew me into the world of design research and strategy. Because of her 

lecture and the conversation we had as a class, I want to develop my own ideas, and learn 

more about the world of working as a design strategist so that I can provide factual evidence 

to what I want to create in the future or for client work.  

SECTION TWO 

1. I am very passionate about this topic because of its practical applications to my future 

career. I am excited for this deep dive into the topic to further my understanding before 

applying to creative strategy jobs that require more research to develop products.  

2. Design anthropology is also a very important topic in general because it leads to 

developing better systems. The study of this is vital for the future of development by 

learning from past creatives and their product applications to then apply to current 

products to make things more efficient and to solve current problems.  

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3. This topic is very scientific in its process because of the study of people in an objective 

manner based on their characteristics, likes/dislikes, and even the ergonomics of 

human interaction. By taking an objective approach to the topic, you can look 

scientifically at the intersection between design and humanity with well designed 

products and how that interaction has transformed throughout history.  

4. Something that I find interesting about this topic is that is still hasn’t become a 

mainstream study really. Ethnography in design was an upcoming topic of study in the 

60s and 70s when researchers “took to the streets” to figure out what products were 

actually being used and which ones the majority of the public did not respond well to. It 

is still a very young practice in terms of contemporary research methods.  

SECTION THREE 

I am hoping to learn the practical application of design archaeology and how to incorporate it 

into my own practice. I also hope to learn how the curriculum of design teachings can be 

impacted through proper archaeological study. I believe I will start to find answers to my 

questions through interviews with design anthropologists/ethnographers, and through 

published scientific findings on the decolonization of design.  

Two questions regarding the topic: 

How can designers use anthropological studies to transform education systems? 

How has the study of anthropology impacted contemporary design methodology? 

 
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Works Cited 

Wasson, Christina. 2016. Design Anthropology. ​General Anthropology​ 23(2):1-11​. 

Wasson, Christina. 2000. Ethnography in the Field of Design. ​Human Organization 

59(4):377-388.