MSc Design Ethnography - FAQs

I don’t have a background in design, does that matter?

Absolutely not. People working in the user research / design ethnography area come from a huge variety of backgrounds (design, business, engineering, anthropology, etc.). The course is designed to attract a mix of students from a variety of academic and professionals backgrounds who work together to understand the challenges of developing and delivering actionable user insights in design settings.

I see there is computing involved, I don’t know anything about that, is that a problem?

No. The computing part of our programme is simply developing your understanding of “usability engineering and human-computer interaction” – which are the principle ways people in the high tech sector currently approach thinking about end users. Design ethnographers are often employed in high tech companies and need to work with engineers so understanding that world is useful!

I don’t want to work in the high tech sector, is the course still relevant?

Absolutely. The skills we teach (observational research, interviewing, analysis, design thinking, strategic information design, etc.) are highly transferrable, and design ethnographers and user researchers work across the design spectrum, form high-tech to service design.