Cultural Probes in Real Life
Gerry GaffneyInformation & Design
www.infodesign.com.au
Probes are “…designed to prompt and elicit information from people about their lives and
local culture” (Bill Gaver)
“Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted” ( 孙子 )
Photo: I, Shane, flickr, creative commons license
Image: NASA
• The area or subject is sensitive
• Our presence may interfere too much
• We need to observe over a long period.
We can’t observe if…
A “probe” may contain
• Diary (or blog)
• Camera
• Video recorder
• Audio recorder
• Postcards
• Anything that enables participants to self-report
Analysis?
“We don’t analyse the data… we’ve got real returns from real people…
It’s nice to work with the… raw materials because they force you to re-interpret them pretty much every time you look at them.”
– Bill Gaver, in an interview with Gerry Gaffney
Commercial necessity
• The objective is likely to be more immediate than in an academic context
• A focus on deliverables
• Frequent or ongoing re-interpretation is not encouraged!
• So analysis and synthesis are necessary.
• www.linkme.com.au
• Studied 6 people who were looking for employment (key part of the target audience)
• Asked them to keep a diary over a three-week period
• Interviewed them during & after the study
• Analyzed the diaries and associated materials.
Case study
Handling the flood of data
Photo: Alexis Rondeauflickr, creative commons license
How to estimate?
• Comparable to contextual enquiry in terms of:– Preparation time– Recruiting time (but requires more care)– Quantity of data– Analysis method and effort.
• Participant payment/incentives more costly• Amount of consultant time theoretically
may be reduced.
Conclusion
• Relatively simple technique
• Needs careful planning
• Deliverables include– Personas– Scenarios– Artefacts.
• A useful technique to add to your toolkit – applied to the appropriate projects.