Introduction
What if the secret to ground-breaking product design isn’t just about aesthetics or engineering, but understanding people at a deeper level?
That’s the question forward-thinking industrial designers are beginning to ask. In an era dominated by rapid technological innovation and fierce market competition, it’s tempting to focus only on the latest materials, sleek forms, or the next viral gadget. But truly exceptional design—the kind that creates emotional resonance, cultural relevance, and long-term usability—requires a different approach. It requires empathy. It requires anthropology.
Anthropology, the study of human societies, cultures, and behaviours, may seem far removed from the world of CAD software and 3D printing. But the parallels are striking. Just as anthropologists immerse themselves in cultures to decode meaning, industrial designers must dive deep into the lives of users to uncover unspoken needs, habits, and pain points.
At Shark Design, we believe the future of industrial design lies at this intersection—where creativity meets cultural inquiry. We embed anthropological thinking into our product development process, ensuring that what we create doesn’t just function well or look beautiful, but fits naturally into the everyday lives of people. Products should be intuitive because they reflect real behaviour—not assumptions.
Let’s explore how designers can think more like anthropologists—and why they should.
The Overlap Between Industrial Design & Anthropology
To understand how anthropology complements industrial design, we first need to unpack what each discipline brings to the table.
Industrial design is the professional practice of designing products used by millions of people every day. It’s where aesthetics, function, usability, and manufacturability meet. But beyond the surface-level appeal, industrial design is fundamentally about solving problems—human problems.
Anthropology, on the other hand, is the study of people, cultures, and human development across time. Anthropologists ask: Why do people behave the way they do? What beliefs and social contexts shape their actions?
Here’s where the overlap begins: both disciplines are obsessed with people.
They both aim to understand how humans interact with the world around them. While designers often focus on what people do with a product, anthropologists dig into why they do it. That “why” is where many design breakthroughs are born.
For example, a designer may observe that elderly users struggle with small smartphone buttons. But an anthropological lens reveals the why—perhaps it’s not just about dexterity, but fear of “breaking” expensive technology or past experiences of being excluded from digital spaces.
Empathy becomes the glue that binds these disciplines. And not the buzzword version of empathy, but the grounded, research-driven understanding of lived experiences. This form of empathy drives human-centered product design—a philosophy Shark Design prioritizes in every project.
Designers who approach their work like anthropologists build products not just for users, but with them, informed by real behaviours and rich cultural context.
How Anthropological Thinking Enhances Product Design
1. Observing Real User Behaviour
Traditional usability testing often happens in a lab—sterile environments far removed from how people actually live and use products. But humans are messy, emotional, and beautifully unpredictable. That’s where ethnographic research in design becomes invaluable.
Imagine testing a cooking device in a lab versus observing a family using it in their tiny apartment kitchen. The difference is night and day. You learn where they store it, how they clean it, and whether grandma can use it without instructions. These insights can’t be scripted—they’re discovered.
2. Cultural Context in Design
Cultural norms heavily influence how products are perceived and used. A chair isn’t just a chair—its height, form, and material may work in one region but feel awkward or inappropriate in another. Consider global smartphone usage. In some cultures, users prefer voice messaging over typing. In others, privacy norms affect how people carry and use devices. Products that ignore these nuances risk falling flat, no matter how “innovative” they are.
By incorporating industrial design and anthropology, teams can design products that belong—to the people, the place, and the culture.
3. Designing for Long-Term Use
Trends fade. Human behaviour evolves. A good product isn’t just relevant today—it grows with its users.
Anthropologists are experts at spotting slow changes in habits and societal shifts. When designers tap into that insight, they move from reactive problem-solving to proactive innovation. For instance, how might aging populations or climate awareness change how people use household items in the next decade?
4. Case Study: Apple’s Newton vs. iPhone
Let’s look at two products from the same company, with drastically different outcomes.
- Apple Newton (1993): An early personal digital assistant (PDA) with handwriting recognition. It flopped. Why? It didn’t align with how people naturally worked or wanted to use technology at the time. The learning curve was steep, and the cultural readiness for such a device just wasn’t there.
- Apple iPhone (2007): A product that revolutionized communication. Why? Because it wasn’t just about features—it was about integrating into the user’s lifestyle, behaviors, and even identity. The iPhone wasn’t just a tool—it became a cultural artifact.
Understanding the why behind user behavior can mean the difference between a flop and a phenomenon.
Practical Methods for Designers to Adopt an Anthropological Approach
1. Ethnographic Research: Go Where Your Users Live
Designers need to step out of the studio and into the real world. Shadow users as they interact with similar products in their homes, offices, or communities. Notice what they do when no one’s watching. Do they modify the product? Use it for something unexpected? Avoid it altogether? At Shark Design, we often conduct in-situ observations before sketching a single concept. In one case, observing users in a warehouse environment helped us redesign an industrial scanner for one-handed use, reducing fatigue and improving workflow.
2. Deep Interviews Over Surveys
While surveys gather surface-level data, deep interviews uncover the emotional drivers behind decisions. Ask open-ended questions. Let people ramble. That’s often where the gold is.
A user might not say, “I need a modular charger with interchangeable heads.” But they’ll complain about packing multiple chargers for travel or frustration with tangled cables. It’s your job to translate that narrative into a design opportunity.
3. Participatory Design: Co-Create with Users
Why guess when you can involve users directly in the creative process?
Participatory design invites users to ideate, prototype, and critique alongside designers. This doesn’t mean giving up creative control—it means gaining deeper insight. You’ll be surprised how often users think of better, simpler solutions.
Shark Design uses this method in workshops with clients and end-users, especially for healthcare and consumer electronics projects where user experience is mission-critical.
4. Contextual Mapping and Behaviour Diaries
Ask users to log their experiences over time. This might include photos, voice notes, or handwritten journals.
Patterns emerge: pain points you never considered, joyful moments worth amplifying. These longitudinal studies give depth and perspective beyond a one-time interview.
Challenges & How to Overcome Them (Approx. 300 words)
1. Time Constraints
Ethnographic research and deep interviews take time—a commodity few start-ups or lean teams can afford.
Solution: Start small. Even a few hours of fieldwork or a handful of interviews can yield high-impact insights. Prioritize depth over breadth.
2. Balancing Business Goals with Human Needs
There’s always a tension between cost, deadlines, and real human-centered design.
Solution: Frame user insights as ROI. Products that truly solve problems reduce support calls, boost retention, and encourage organic growth. The empathy dividend pays long-term.
3. Avoiding Bias
Designers, like all humans, bring their own assumptions into research. Bias can cloud what you see or hear.
Solution: Collaborate with cross-functional teams. Encourage peer review of field notes. And always triangulate—don’t rely on one data source.
Final Thoughts
Industrial design is no longer just about making things look and work better. It’s about making them mean something.
To do that, designers must think like anthropologists—curious, open-minded, and relentlessly focused on the human experience. It means trading assumptions for observations, replacing ego with empathy, and elevating product design from transactional to transformational.
At Shark Design, we believe in designing with—not just for—real people. We integrate ethnographic methods, participatory design, and cultural insights into every phase of product development. The result? Products that don’t just sit on a shelf—they fit into lives.
Ready to build something that resonates beyond the first impression?
Let’s design with deeper insight, together.
