Suchergebnisse

What is the relation between design and anthropology and why is it so important when dealing with medical objects? Although recently anthropologists and social scientists regained interest in the realm of industrial design, this relation has long been neglected. When dealing with design from a social or cultural point of view, researchers tend to focus either on the consumer or the historical-processual aspects of material objects. In this article, we outline an example of applied design anthropology fieldwork conducted in a rehabilitation unit in a hospital in Jerusalem to highlight the relevance of anthropology to the practice-oriented world of industrial designers. This article follows the shift from classic industrial design to medical design anthropology deriving from the unique abilities of anthropology as a flexible and ever-shifting discipline. Ensuing this qualitative in-depth example of anthropology-design relation, we will show the importance of anthropology as a holistic approach to the practice of design.