Epic 2024 Takeaways by Mantaray Africa UX Researcher – Olivia Ndlovu Lucas
“If you ever thought about what a true picture of connection through research looks like, Epic really is it. The 2024 Epic conference was such a unique platform of ethnographers working towards a common goal of improving people’s lives through research on various touch points such as: inclusive design and research practices.”
Some Key Takeaways
African representation was exciting but still low in numbers.
Of the various interactions with peers, we were delighted to have met fellow Africans from Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe at the conference who in their presentations on participatory research and finding synergies in ethnography and product development also brought an African perspective to a conference with an eager-to-learn audience to potentially change the global approach coming into the continent. The Pechakucha from Ghanian UXR Sasha Ofori was a very relatable look into the true meaning of empathy as a researcher and how we leverage our own experiences to practical in-field circumstances, this further emphasized the what we at Mantaray also often encourage by matching moderators to participants so the empathy felt is more genuine, leading to more openness to share from the participant.
Epic is short of African researchers.
In a room of many bright and experienced ethnographers, African representation was a big shortfall. I still think about why this could be as we only felt the presence of about 3 African presenters. It was a unique opportunity to educate but it also became clear that there is a desire to hear more from Africans about Africa.
I was approached by curious ethnographers from Europe and the US about practical research methods and a number of points they did not consider when doing research in Africa mostly due to the assumption that we behave the same, ignoring various cultural considerations that can alter research outcomes and data credibility. Some confessed they had challenges finding African researchers experienced in ethnographic practices that they could include in their work on anthropology and other related areas. African researchers sharing in this way in these platforms seemed like unicorns to say the least.
The Keynote from David Burns and Austin Young about the art project Fallen Fruit was delightful in the way that it reminded us of collective efforts towards creating a movement bigger than ourselves. Fallen fruit and the concept of free-hanging fruit on fencing being for all to share, reminded me of the streets of many African communities where surplus in farming is always a delight to share and exchange.
AI was a big topic as expected.
As different markets find ways to incorporate it into user experience, there were many case studies shared but a bigger point was made about how the human touch is still needed alongside AI.
Improving AI integration into learning, making AI more inclusive and discussing ways that ethnographic research can inform AI product development showed me how as much as the thinkers behind a lot of these developments are experienced in their craft, there is still a form of imposition in assuming all markets will adopt the western ethnographic approach. Ethnography for development is still very focused on the global north and validated in the global south rather than developed with the global south.
After our presentation and presenting a non-filtered view of Africa and the qualms we have with the lack of inclusiveness and the overflow of assumptions about what we need. The audience was hungry for such honest feedback and this shows that more can be done to show this picture of Africa to the true degree of how much we need to do, to correct what has become common place as token inclusiveness rather than the extensive work that real inclusiveness entails.
