Google Image Result for http://www.ilikedesign.co.uk/images/smartpalette.jpg
A cultural probe is a qualitative research tool that allows a researching to carry out a rapid form of ethnography on a user without the researcher being present . The results are very subjective which combined with quantitative research creates a very strong method of understanding a users existing personality.
cultural probe kit
A completed Cultural Probe.
I am interested in the distinction between product and research tool and many of the items in a cultural probe's context were, i believe, both products and tools for research.
"Selected volunteers are given probe packs. The participants use the items in the pack over a period of a few weeks and then return the pack. The items in the pack depend on the circimstances, but are all designed to stimulate thought as well as capture experiences.
Once we consider systems beyond the traditional office PC, especially those involving personal experience, design needs to establish new methods of study. Other researchers have used diary studies asking participants to note particular kinds of incidents. Another group asked parents to give them lists they kept (shopping lists, to do lists). Role play has also been used to get people to act out aspects of their life that they might not wish to be observed." www.equator.org
No comments:
Post a Comment