Jack Whalen's career and work has been extensive in terms of defining how ethnography can influence design. More specifically, workplace studies uses careful and detailed examination of workplace practice, often combined with the researcher engaging as a direct participant in the setting. We discuss the nature of this work, and the trajectory of his professional career from academia to industry and then back to academia again. No matter where he was, Jack always combined research with impact, fusing theory and practice in ways to inform design and advance positive change.
In the area of ethnomethodology and workplace studies, Jack’s work always served as a case study in how to apply academic research and industry impact. From his earlier days at the University of Oregon, to his move to the Institute for Research on Learning at Stanford, and then to the XEROX Palo Alto Research Center, and even today with the sustainable fisheries partnership, Jack has used ethnography to further design throughout his work.
In this episode, we talk about how he arrived at this work from his dissertation on social movements. We then work through his 911 first responder training and research, which then led into his work with his wife Marilyn on Call Center operations. We then track how ethnomethodology is really the first human-centered design. Jack talks about how being a social broker to bring stakeholders together is an important element in workplace studies and turning findings into design outcomes. Finally, we explore how workplace studies and ethnographic studies of work has created an important framework for how design ethnography is done today.