{"title":"Frictions in the Future of Work","authors":"MADISON VAN OORT","doi":"10.1111/epic.12162","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/epic.12162","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 <p>The concept of the “future of work”, though widely-referenced in mainstream media and policy discourse, remains persistently ambiguous, making it ripe for ethnographic intervention. Contrary to the techno-determinism of industry research and the limited focus of some public policy, I trace the social complexities and frictions of the future of work through the example of worker surveillance in the retail industry. I begin by reviewing the history of retail worker surveillance and showing how the social dimensions of worker surveillance have evolved alongside labor processes. Then, I explore a recently-proposed US policy that aims to combat worker surveillance, and I explore how that proposal might look different if it were informed by ethnography. I end by considering speculative methods and design justice frameworks as potential avenues through which applied ethnographers might wrestle with these social complexities and contribute to collectively redesigning futures of work.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":89347,"journal":{"name":"Conference proceedings. Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference","volume":"2023 1","pages":"201-211"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/epic.12162","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143252632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ANDERS KOED MADSEN, ANDERS KRISTIAN MUNK, JOHAN IRVING SØLTOFT
{"title":"Friction by Machine: How to Slow Down Reasoning with Computational Methods","authors":"ANDERS KOED MADSEN, ANDERS KRISTIAN MUNK, JOHAN IRVING SØLTOFT","doi":"10.1111/epic.12153","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/epic.12153","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 <p>This paper provides a theoretical alternative to the prevailing perception of machine learning as synonymous with speed and efficiency. Inspired by ethnographic fieldwork and grounded in pragmatist philosophy, we introduce the concept of “data friction” as the situation when encounters between held beliefs and data patterns possess the potential to stimulate innovative thinking. Contrary to the conventional connotations of “speed” and “control,” we argue that computational methods can generate a productive dissonance, thereby fostering slower and more reflective practices within organizations. Drawing on a decade of experience in participatory data design and data sprints, we present a typology of data frictions and outline three ways in which algorithmic techniques within data science can be reimagined as “friction machines”. We illustrate these theoretical points through a dive into three case studies conducted with applied anthropologist in the movie industry, urban planning, and research.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":89347,"journal":{"name":"Conference proceedings. Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference","volume":"2023 1","pages":"65-88"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/epic.12153","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143252654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Grounded Models: The Future of Sensemaking in a World of Generative AI","authors":"TOM HOY, IMAN MUNIRE BILAL, ZOE LIOU","doi":"10.1111/epic.12158","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/epic.12158","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 <p>The promise of generative AI technologies is seductive to product leaders: frictionless research in which synthetic data can be both generated and analysed via a simple end-to-end UI, enabling teams to speed up research timelines and reduce costs. However, our evidence suggests we should be sceptical of these maximalist claims. Over the last 18 months our combined team of NLP data scientists and ethnographers has conducted a series of experiments to explore, assess and define the value of LLM-driven research techniques. First, we explore this value pragmatically, as new tools for sensemaking; and second, epistemologically, as we unpack their broader implications for ethnography. We demonstrate how ethnography can usefully “ground” LLMs in two “complex” worlds: that of the user and that of the organisation. We argue the future of research is not automation, but more collaboration between ethnographers and data scientists, as they better integrate their tools and ways of knowing.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":89347,"journal":{"name":"Conference proceedings. Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference","volume":"2023 1","pages":"159-182"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/epic.12158","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143252591","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sending out an SOS: Signals from Conflict-Affected Audiences in the Digital Communication Landscape","authors":"CAPRI BURRELL, SARA PARVANEZADEH ESFAHANI","doi":"10.1111/epic.12163","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/epic.12163","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 <p>Crisis events can profoundly alter a person's relationship with technology that require product solutions to meet user challenges during these periods of upheaval. We used digital ethnography in two recent events, the internet shutdown and blocking of WhatsApp during the protests in Iran (2022) and the Kahramanmaras earthquake in Turkey (2023) to examine real-time community organization behaviors in technologically mediated settings in the context of conflict and disruption. In the case of the internet shutdown in Iran, we documented workarounds when access is blocked and when our app does not do the things people need it to do. In the case of the earthquake in Turkey, we learned how people share photos/videos and status updates for information sharing and raising awareness.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":89347,"journal":{"name":"Conference proceedings. Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference","volume":"2023 1","pages":"212-221"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/epic.12163","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143252596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
SIMON ROBERTS, ERIN HACKETT, SOHIT KAROL, DIEGO BARON
{"title":"Favoring Friction: Examining Hotel Browsing and Buying through the Lens of the Bazaar","authors":"SIMON ROBERTS, ERIN HACKETT, SOHIT KAROL, DIEGO BARON","doi":"10.1111/epic.12156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/epic.12156","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 <p>This paper examines the domestic market for hotels in India and attempts to solve what at first appears to be a puzzle: in the context of a highly digitized market, with plentiful information about hotels and their prices available online, the majority of bookings are made offline and involve time-intensive, socially-mediated browsing and buying activities which we term “bazaar behaviors”. By engaging with the anthropology of bazaars and markets, in particular the work of Clifford Geertz, we show that the qualities of hotel rooms as commodities, and the cultural and price information logics at play, explain why Indian travelers favor friction in the search and booking process. While this paper is concerned with one specific commodity type, in one specific (albeit highly plural) market context, we conclude by outlining how we can generalize our analysis of bazaar behaviors to enrich our understanding of online commerce more widely.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":89347,"journal":{"name":"Conference proceedings. Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference","volume":"2023 1","pages":"119-145"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/epic.12156","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143252657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Building for Resilience","authors":"PREETI TALWAI, KEITA WANGARI, LUCA PAULINA","doi":"10.1111/epic.12146","DOIUrl":"10.1111/epic.12146","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":89347,"journal":{"name":"Conference proceedings. Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference","volume":"2022 1","pages":"361"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42736253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Interactive Archaeology of the Laptop","authors":"RITA COSTA PEREIRA, SIMON ROBERTS, CHARLEY SCULL","doi":"10.1111/epic.12141","DOIUrl":"10.1111/epic.12141","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":89347,"journal":{"name":"Conference proceedings. Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference","volume":"2022 1","pages":"351"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48640275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Climate Dystopian Cocktail Hour","authors":"SARAH BROOKS, MEGHAN L. MCGRATH","doi":"10.1111/epic.12145","DOIUrl":"10.1111/epic.12145","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":89347,"journal":{"name":"Conference proceedings. Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference","volume":"2022 1","pages":"360"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42846090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Creating Resilient Research Findings: Using Ethnographic Methods to Combat Research Amnesia","authors":"KRISTEN L. GUTH","doi":"10.1111/epic.12132","DOIUrl":"10.1111/epic.12132","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Product teams, including those I work with, struggle to connect the challenges observed in prior research to issues that endure in the field and market space. As a shortcut for efficiency gains, product partners rely on researchers to succinctly summarize deep insights, sometimes preferring reductive quantitative interpretations to enable a bias toward action in product development cycles. Challenges facing researchers in product development include maintaining the relevance of prior research, providing a way to make it evergreen and accessible, and building on it to deepen and expand an existing model of behavior. This case introduces the concept of Research Amnesia, which poses a threat to organizational resilience. Using core ethnographic methods, a strategic methodological approach is outlined to frameshift the value of existing research within a company to develop new insights, bring together disparate analyses and teams, and propel product partners forward by offering more questions as a means to answers.</p>","PeriodicalId":89347,"journal":{"name":"Conference proceedings. Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference","volume":"2022 1","pages":"294-316"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46934574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}