The parallels between UX research methods and those of Anthropologists are clear.

User Experience research aims to provide insights and understanding into the perspectives and wants of their users through qualitative and quantitative methods. User Experience research aims to provide insights and understanding into the perspectives and wants of their users through qualitative and quantitative methods. Anthropology has exactly the same motivations and cultivates very similar methods in attaining insight on those they study. So why have aspiring Anthropologists like myself never heard of UX?

In my four years of College, I don’t recall a single instance of hearing the term ‘User Experience’ or even ‘Applied Anthropology’, Not once did an advisor or professor relate the possibility of applying my degree and training in anthropology and social science to technology or business in a way that broke from the traditional model of Anthropology. In my experience, the jobs that I was informed that I could attain with my major were either academic or pertained to cultural research management, such as museum work. Why is this? In my opinion, it seems to me that the neglect in reporting professions in Applied Anthropology at the University level, and instead pushing students in the direction of careers that favour of classical and scholarly pursuits seems to go hand in hand with the general view of Anthropologists that private sector jobs and big-business/corporations are wholesale evil or inherently unethical. Coupled with this is the simple lack of transparency regarding the ability to implement Anthropological thought in a technological context and to online, as opposed to small-scale, communities.

So if you’re an Anthropology major or recent graduate, and like myself, are unsure about you future prospects, consider researching User Experience and other applied/digital anthropological careers. Look up if your university has a resident Applied Anthropologist, consider interning at a tech company, or conduct some independent research on online communities or social media. I think you might be surprised at how well suited you are. And if your business is looking to better understand your users and what they need or want in a product or service consider anthropologists –We’ve spent much of our academic career preparing for a job in UX without even knowing it.

Article by Juliette St Andrew, UX Researcher @ UX Connections

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www.uxconnections.com