[Upcoming Seminar] Applying Anthropological Methods in the Design Thinking Process

Title: Applying Anthropological Methods in the Design Thinking Process

Speaker: Charles Shih Hsiang SUNG (Assistant Professor, College of Management and the Integrated Program Of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, National Sun Yat-Sen University; Founder of Anthropologists for the Future)

Date and time: 23 January 2017, 1:00 – 3:15 pm

Venue: Room 12 Humanities Building, New Asia College, CUHK

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Design thinking is a tool developed by a world-famous design company “IDEO” and has become one important tool for solving problems in social and commercial fields. It includes five important steps (Empathy, define, ideate, prototyping, and prototype testing), three evaluation standards (viability, desirability, and feasibility), and two thinking principles (divergent thinking and convergent thinking). As IDEO claims that anthropologists are beneficial to design thinking process, anthropologists in academic still lack understanding to it and ignore our strengths in design process. In this workshop, I will introduce how to apply anthropological methods in design thinking process and how to issue a design project based on anthropological concerns. Anthropologists are familiar with conducting participant observation and interviews with empathy in fieldwork. This is important and helpful to design thinking process. However, anthropologists usually ignore the creativity we own. In the workshop, I will also introduce how to inspire creativity and develop insights based on anthological perspectives. 

Charles Shih Hsiang Sung is an Assistant Professor teaching material culture anthropology and design thinking in the Integrated Program of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, National Sun Yat-sen University. He and his partner are promoting the application of anthropological perspectives and ethnographical methods outside the academic by building a team and the Facebook Page "Anthropologists for Future (百工裡的人類學家)". They organize online anthropological knowledge sharing and offline activities for people who are outside anthropological academic circle but interested in its application. He believes that anthropologists can work with different fields because they all expect a better future based on humanity values.

ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME! 

(A light lunch will be served at 12:30 pm. First come first served.)