CULTURAL PROBESRESEARCHING USER CULTURE

GAVER, DUNNE AND PACENTI

COMMON DILEMMA: HOW TO UNDERSTAND CONTEXTDesigners have the need to understand ”local cultures”, so that the product will not be inadequate or irrellevant

But you don’t want the users to limit the design

The users can only suggest solutions they know = no innovation

PURPOSE OF PROBESTo provoke inspirational answers from the users

Aiming for experimental design based on dialogue

Like surgical or astronomical probes

METHODECreate objects (the probes) which provoke answers

Allow the users to use their senses – use images, sounds etc.

NOT A QUESTIONAIRE!!!

Questions range from straight forward to poetic

IDEAS FOR COLLECTION OBJECTS

Disposable cameraes (or images from the mobile phones) followed by a shotlist

• What you will wear today• The first person you see today• Something desirable• Something boring• Difficult situations

Map to fill in routes

Diaries

Postcards

NOT AN ORDINARY INVESTIGATION

No need for precise analysis or thoroughly controlled methodologies

Purpose is to discover new cultural forms

Result: Inspiration NOT information

An impressionistic presentation of the users preferences and cultural consideration

USER CENTERED DESIGN INSPIRATION

The point is for the designer to get an idea on what the users can feel and experience in relation to a product

(But is also very effective as a way of explaining the design to your customer)

THE PROBES

When returned should not be analysed

Looked and read through to get inspiration

For getting ideas for design

CRITIQUE OF THE METHOD

It is used to gather information

Digital care har gjort det inden for sundhedsområdet, se Hemmings et. Al

De ser det som vigtigt at melde ud, hvad man gør åbent – probningens formål skal være tydelig

MORE ARGUMENTS AGAINST

” Designing for pleasure demands a different approach from designing for utility.”

The problem is there has been a strong tendency to rationalize the Probes.

People seem unsatisfied with the playful, subjective approach embodied by the original Probes

None of these tasks (or any of the others we used) produced returns that were easy to interpret, much less analyze.

WHO INTERPRETS

The Probes simultaneously make the strange familiar and the familiar strange p. 6

BEYOND THIS, HOWEVER, THE PROBES EMBODIED AN APPROACH TO DESIGN THAT RECOGNIZES AND EMBRACES THE NOTION THAT KNOWLEDGE HAS LIMITS.

IT’S AN APPROACH THAT VALUES UNCERTAINTY, PLAY, EXPLORATION, AND SUBJECTIVE INTERPRETATION AS WAYS OF DEALING WITH THOSE LIMITS.

AN EXAMPLE

A probe on the outdoors Link

The result Link

The design Link

YOUR TURN:

MMD is looking for an interiour design for the school

First assignment

• Each one of you find 5 images online, which illustrates a nice environment.

• Then take you mobile phone and photograph places which are ugly, uncosy right now at the school. At least 3

• Also use the mobile phone to photograph 3 situations, where peoples seem to be having a good time at the school

• Write 6 single words about a good environment• Which movie environment would you like to walk around in,

and why?

YOUR TURN/2

Second assignment

• You get the material from one of the other students. • You look through the material• Create a photoshop collage that illustrates the

inspiration/conclusion – you got from the answers• Remember that YOU decide• Show us a good idea for a class room design

RESOURCES

About Cultural Probes

http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_intranetprobes/index.html

http://www.sfu.ca/~nmw8/iat_333/portfolio_website/