Week 9: Challenge Activity - Communities of Practice -Ethnography Report

Reflections on Networking

I’ll be honest, the idea of networking fills me with utter dread. I haven’t had many experiences of networking in the past, however I had a brief stint in-between jobs where I offered freelance design services. I tried my best to push myself out of my comfort zone, as I’d been told form every direction that the key to working as a freelancer was networking. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I must have heard this saying a thousand times. I attended one group that I found through Meet-Up. I prepared for this beforehand by selecting a nice outfit to wear, something relaxed but cool and edgy. I even had some business cards made up should I need to hand them out to my peers to be. I deliberated over how many to take with me…would 5 be enough, or 10? What if I run out? Finally, the event came around and I have to admit, I managed to keep on top of my nerves and after one drink I plucked up the courage to talk to a few people.

I didn’t hate the experience as much as I thought I would. However, I also did not find it particularly useful or enlightening either. I noticed a few people talking to one another, but really it was just a social event and I had to question whether anyone really got much out of it. But was I expecting too much from one event?

I tried again a few months later with another group of likeminded freelancers. This time, it was a group called Need, a network of freelancers who could share projects out amongst themselves. Again, nothing really came from this despite my best efforts. No work or even any long-lasting contacts. I guess for me, I gained practice dealing with social business occasions.

As I moved into a career in fashion, conferences and networking groups disappeared from my radar. These were replaced by fashion shows and trade shows. These were opportunities to show off your designs and to mingle with sales agents and product managers. They were very social affairs but with a sense of business throughout.

I attended many trade shows, my favourite being Pitti Uomo in Florence, partly due to its leaning towards menswear and accessories, but also because of it’s fantastic location. These would last for about three days, and after helping to set up the showroom and steam the garments, I was free to mingle around the other showrooms, talking to other designers, brands and sales agents; soaking up trend inspiration, competitor research, people watching and multiple free glasses of Prosecco. Whilst I was still a little nervous at talking to strangers, I felt much more confident in these events than I had at any other business meet up in the past. I felt confident in my abilities, and had physical work to show for it. Nobody is out of place at those events, if you are there then you are supposed to be there; you belong.

So, my point is that networking events can prove to be incredibly useful and can build up your confidence and your network of peers. The success of these, in my opinion, rely on your confidence and the body of work you have behind you. They take some practice and if you are of a nervous disposition then perseverance is key. Appreciate the small gains and in the meantime keep working on your portfolio. The more confidence you have in your work, the more you will feel you have to offer.

Communities of Practice

There is so much to gain from engaging with communities of practice. We learn, explore and problem-solve with others that we share mutual interests with. As Pyrko, Dörfler and Eden say,

“the process of ‘thinking together’ is conceptualized as a key part of meaningful Communities of Practice where people mutually guide each other through their understandings of the same problems in their area of mutual interest, and this way indirectly share tacit knowledge.”

Looking deeper into what a community of practice (CoP) is, Wenger states that the practice refers to ‘a set frameworks, ideas, tools, information, styles, language, stories, and documents’ (Wenger et al., 2002: 29). There are three key structural elements of a CoP that Wenger (1998) refers to:

• Mutual engagement - this refers to who the members are and what the shared field of interest is.

• Joint enterprise - these are the common problems the members care about.

• Shared repertoire - the showcase of artefacts created by members of the group.

Luckily, my husband is very interested in my design work (or at least has mastered the art of listening). He will listen to me talks for hours about a design problem or a new concept, usually until I have talked enough to discover a solution by myself. As endearing and welcome as this is, there is a richness that comes from conversation with a fellow practitioner. They can inspire, motivate and often enlighten us and together, we shape the community of practice we belong to.

Conferences and Resources

Agile on the Beach - Cornwall

InfoQ - online resource for development news, resources and practices

Meetup - online resource for local groups

Maker Movement - a community making hub

Ethonography Report

For my report I wanted to look at the fashion UX practice community, though I found it difficult to find any existing networks specific to this industry. I looked at various practitioners and articles from this field and made some observations.

Tone and Language

The community refers quite often to the parallels between the fashion industry and UX design practice. I have recognised a lot of people who have transitioned, like myself, from the fashion design world into the UX world. Many reference the recent difficulties I faced in my fashion design career; opportunities to develop and progress are scarce, especially for niche designers of accessories such as myself.

Activities and Behaviours

An ongoing interest and immersion in the arts, culture and design seem to be highly encouraged, as well as building up a strong, beautiful portfolio to showcase your work. There is also recognition that both fashion design and UX design includes constant learning and development - often on the go. There are many crossover skills utilised by both professions, such as version control, prototyping, rapid ideation and consideration of the end user/consumer.

I would like to keep looking for real communities that I could become a part of, or even look at starting my own group whereby UX practitioners who either come from a fashion design background, or specialise in this field can create a community of practice.

References

PYRKO, Igor, Viktor DÖRFLER and Colin EDEN. 2017. ‘Thinking Together: What Makes Communities of Practice Work?’ Human relations (New York) 70(4), 389–409.

WENGER E (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

WENGER E, MCDERMOTT R and SNYDER WM (2002) Cultivating Communities of Practice. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.