W02: Using Drawing to Understand Technology

Using Drawing to Understand Technology

A vision of collaborative anthropology for a world in crisis by Laura Haapio-Kirk

Participatory drawing can be a powerful way to elicit research participants’ thoughts and feelings in non-verbal media which can be especially helpful when approaching intimate topics.

This workshop will be an opportunity to reflect on our own experiences of technology, and to think about how drawing can aid ethnographic enquiry, particularly in uncovering affective and interior experiences. It will feature examples from the Illustrating Anthropology exhibition curated by the workshop organisers.

During the workshop participants will be divided into small groups focusing on particular topics to do with technology, and will be tasked to produce 3-minute drawings which will form the basis of group discussion. The workshop will conclude with a debate about the merits of participatory visual approaches in research, especially with regard to exploring technology. No artistic skills required!

What you will learn

You will leave with a critical and embodied understanding of participatory drawing elicitation as a research method. Most importantly you will have experienced this method from the perspective of a research participant. This will hopefully result not only in an empathetic understanding of research participation, but also in an expansion in awareness of the multiple ways that people can express ideas and feelings beyond the purely verbal.

Participants will be directed to key resources to learn more about drawing as an ethnographic method.

In this workshop, you will learn:

• how participatory drawing elicitation can be used in research, such as enabling interlocutors to express ideas and feelings related to technology.
• the kinds of knowledge we can gain from participatory drawing, including within UX design research.
• the benefits and drawbacks of using the method, and when it would be useful to employ.
• the differences between participatory drawing as elicitation technique compared with photo or object elicitation.

Who should attend this workshop

Workshop Leaders

Laura Haapio-Kirk, Visual Anthropologist
Laura is a PhD researcher on the ERC-funded Anthropology of Smartphones and Smart Ageing project based at UCL Anthropology. Her research examines experiences of ageing in Japan, particularly among people in mid-life, and questions the impact of mobile phones on daily life for older adults. Her training in Visual Anthropology informs her ethnographic approach which combines participant observation with drawing and film as research methods. She is interested in pushing traditional modes of academic dissemination, and is currently writing a book about her research in Japan which combines reportage illustration and text.

Laura’s co-presenter for this workshop is Jennifer Cearns.