In yesterday’s lecture we covered a lot of philosophy with which you might not be familiar, or want to go over again, so here’s a pdf of the relevant slides. If you have any questions at all, please just ask!
And here’s a recap of the cultural probe discussion:
What’s a cultural probe?
- a qualitative method or tool developed by designers for conducting culturally focussed research-by-design and research-for-design.
What does a cultural probe contain?
- the actual contents of a cultural probe depend on the area of research and design interest being explored
- regardless of focus, a successful cultural probe contain well-designed and aesthetically refined artefacts, activities and instructions
- depending on what you are exploring, you might design artefacts that participants can use and keep, or use and return to you
- these artefacts can be real or fictional; historic, contemporary or futuristic
- alternatively, you might provide raw materials for participants to create a particular artefact, or an artefact of their choice
- probes also provide activities for participants to do, and ways for them to record and share with you what they did
- all probes require clear instructions for use, including a brief introductory statement about what you are exploring and why.
What kind of design is involved?
- cultural probes involve combinations of graphic/media design, product/object design and interaction design
- ultimately, you will design a set of objects, activities and instructions, as well as a portable container for them
- the materials you use are up to you, but they should be consistent with your research and design interests.
