blivet radio: Archaeology
blivet radio archaeology

Sunday, June 2, 2002

What's an Archaeologist Doing at a Design Firm? "By now, I'm used to the question, "How did your background lead you to this job?" People aren't quite sure how several degrees in Archaeology and Anthropology connect to a career in high tech design. The best way to explain the connection is to talk about the other question I get as soon as people find out I'm an archaeologist: "Have you found any cool stuff?" The answer is yes, but not exactly the kinds of cool stuff most people imagine. While Indiana Jones is beloved by archaeologists everywhere, most of us don't come across lost arks. The real world of archaeology is about uncovering pieces of the past and analyzing how they fit back together. In reconstructing this story of the past, we can learn more from a pile of potsherds than from a piece of gold, because the puzzle is about putting together the whole picture from as many different angles as we can." (more) Via Got Caliche?, Brian comments further: "Everyone carries with them embedded knowledge, a tacit understanding of how to do the tasks they perform every day. People may not even be aware of what they are doing, and can't describe the activity when asked. The only way to understand work is to see it. Learning to interview like an anthropologist leads to better customer data and better designs. Looking at work artifacts like an archeologist reveals important work practices, and an understanding of how people interact with the artifacts of their daily lives. Their interactions with computers, web sites, and applications are an extension of interactions with any other kind of artifact." 7:11:22 PM    comment   trackback []