Today, I took my students on a field trip into the wilds of a beader's life. We had a blast! (Well, *I* did anyway)
As you may recall, last week, I went with Lydia down Avenida B to two bead stores. We had a great time as I observed and photographed her choices of beads.
Today, my class and I trooped to her house where I did an ethnographic visit - observation, interview, and contextual inquiry - to understand how she uses beads. It was really fascinating!
Before class, I circulated the "Field Notes" from my trip last week, and a Protocol I constructed based on our design brief. When we arrived and set up, I covered the non-disclosure + confidentiality + photo/video release form with Lydia, and then the camera started to roll.
For the next 2+ hrs, we talked and listened and watched as Lydia explained her beading. Here are some peeks at what we learned.
 |
Using Fire Mountain Gems catalog to help identify stones,
and to purchase (in the future) |
 |
She uses her laptop for her inventory and her iPad for pricing
specific pieces of jewelry |
 |
| Inventory is in Excel |
 |
| Her inventory is done with a sheet for each store |
 |
A student photographing the scene
(We had both photos and video) |
 |
| Stringing |
 |
| Almost done |
 |
| Admiring the effect (we all admired it too!) |
 |
| This was the work in progress |
 |
| In the end, I think that Lydia was as happy as we were! |
 |
| Understanding how she keeps track of her stones |
 |
Describing how she catalogs her beads
|
