Director - People and Practices Research Group

Hillsboro, Oregon

Intel Research 

People and Practices Research (PaPR) has been a part of Intel for over 10 years. We are a research and innovation group. Our programs explore fundamental paradigms and phenomena of everyday life in order to help Intel think critically about how people, practices, and institutions matter to technological innovation and to conceive of provocative experiences in the future.  We use social science methods, qualitative and quantitative, to generate insights, models and demonstrations that help reframe “what matters” to Intel’s internal and external partners. We are developing capabilities in design in order to provide Intel with a unique perspective on what’s possible today, tomorrow and in the coming years.

Maria Bezaitis became Director of Intel’s People and Practices Research Group in June 2006. Previously she held management positions in marketing and research at Apopleo, Inc., a wireless strategy and network integration firm based in Chicago. Prior to that, she spent four years leading ethnographic research teams and developing the Advanced Research competency at Sapient Corporation, a business consulting and technology services firm. She started her professional career at E-Lab, a firm that pioneered the use of ethnography for product and service development, where she was a managing partner.

Bezaitis has written and presented on topics including collections & seriality, photographic images and identity, the role of social research and design for technology innovation and development. Bezaitis earned a B.A. in French Literature from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. from Duke University, in French Literature and Cultural Studies.

Presentations & Publications:

“The Anthropologist are Coming,” with Jacob Burr, EPIC 2008, Cophenhagen, DK, 10/15/08

“Social Research at Intel,” School of Design, U of Cophenhagen, Copenhagen, DK, 10/15/08

“Essential Computing: A Vision for the Future,” Asia Academic Forum, Intel Corporation, KL, Malaysia, November 2006

“Ubiquitous Media: Asian Tranformations,” Theory, Culture, Society, July 2007; Panel Respondent.

Cultures of Virtual Worlds Conference, UC Irvine, Co-organizer with Tom Boellstorff, PhD., April 2008.

“Emerging Media in Education,” with Suzanne Thomas, Intel Developers Forum, San Francisco, August 2008.

London School of Economics, London, UK, “Polaroid: Applying Ethnographic Research to Brand and PD”, May 2001

Intel Corporation, Portland, OR, “Frameworks and Ethnographic Research”, January 2000

Schick/Wilkinson Sword Leadership Team, Paris, France, “Bare Legs: Understanding Women and Hair Removal”, November 1998

Studio Archetype, San Francisco, CA, “Meaning of a Backpack: Ethnography for Product Development”, May 1998

PDMA, Orlando, Florida, “E-Lab: Towards a New Practice of Ethnography”, January 1997

Frito-Lay/Pepsi Leadership Team, Plano, TX, “Ethnography and the Convenience Store: Salty Snack and Beverage Consumption in the Small Format Channel”, January 1997

Williams College, Williamstown, MA, “Series & Collections”, April 1995

African Studies Association, Baltimore, MD, “Finkielkraut in Kinshasa: Postmodernism & (de)Colonized Societies”, October 1990.