Creativity and Ethnography An Expansive Proposal for ’in the Wild’ Research of Ideas in Practice in Design Studios

A growing number of scholars are exploring ideas ‘in the wild’ and across different timescales through qualitative research, and especially ethnography. Previous controlled and lab-based studies have formalized techniques to encourage idea development and outlined measurements to rate the success of produced ideas based on quantity, quality, novelty, and variety. Qualitative 'in the wild' research aims to fill the knowledge gap regarding the evolution of ideas, how prior ideas shape new ones, and what other factors impact ideas and their development within a professional setting. However, these studies have been hindered due to difficulty around knowing how to 'do' ethnography and to interpret findings through a theoretical lens via ethnographic analysis and writing in creativity studies, HCI, and Design. This paper provides an in-depth discussion of an ethnographic analysis and writing process from a year-long fieldstudy with designers at a large Danish library. In doing so, it also contributes a better understanding of how to do ethnography on ideas to promote a betterment of the scholarship on ideas, designing, and creativity in the field of creativity studies, HCI, and design.