As our designs are increasingly shaped by AI and automation, design ethnography highlights the skills that remain deeply human. Teaching at the University of Michigan, Sheng-Hung Lee explores how ethnographic methods cultivate empathy, contextual thinking, and creative confidence among emerging designers. Through fieldwork, interviews, and collaboration with industry partners like GM, students are learning to interpret lived experience rather than simply apply tools. This practice reframes design not just as problem-solving, but as a relational discipline that combines listening, reflection, and human understanding.
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