What is the difference between an Anthropologist and a Design Researcher?
I feel that I need to answer one burning question that pops up frequently in many of the places that I’ve consulted or worked: “What the heck is the difference between an Anthropologist and a Design Researcher?”
The context is from within tech companies that use a design thinking or a human-first approach to software development.
Job Function
The Anthropologist (feel free to add Corporate, Design, Digital, Cyber to the front of this) is focused on the human behaviour that happens within workspaces. They observe, learn, distill findings to best understand the evolving needs of today’s workers. This is often done in the context of a specific workplace culture.
A Design Researcher uses design thinking to understand a problem and subsequently find a solution. Design thinking is inherently iterative and human-centred.
The Methods Used
A Corporate Anthropologist uses ethnography: the observation, immersion and engagement of people. The primary focus is on observing, gathering data and understanding the behaviour and the problem to facilitate the understanding of truths.
Using design thinking, a design researcher will rapidly iterate through the following process: observe → empathize → define → ideate → prototype → test.
The two methods are not mutually exclusive because ethnography and data collection is used during the first two phases of the design thinking cycle. The insights gathered through ethnography and the gathering of data are then used to analyze a problem and reframe it allowing you to solve these problems through human-centred design.
In a Nutshell
The Corporate Anthropologist uses science and observation to understand the human perspective and gain empathy and and understanding of a problem.
The Design Researcher designs solutions to problems using a human-centred perspective.
Ultimately, it’s super important for a team to have someone who understands the human(s) who use the technology you are building and to be there to ask important human-centred questions so this doesn’t get lost in the development lifecycle.
