Jayne Wallace
John McCarthy
Patrick Olivier
ABSTRACT
Probes have been adopted with great enthusiasm in both Design and HCI. The heterogeneity with which they have been used in practice reflects how the method has proved elusive for many. Originators and commentators of probes have discussed misinterpretations of the method, highlighting the lack of accounts that describe in detail the design of probes and their use with participants. This paper discusses our particular use of Design Probes as directed craft objects that are both tools for design and tools for exploration across a number of projects, spanning a decade, centered on self-identity and personal significance. In offering an example of what a framework for probe design and use might look like, we attempt to address the identified lacuna, providing a synthetic account of probe design and use over an extended period and conceptualizing the relationship between the properties of probes and their use in design projects.
Supplemental Material
- Boehner, K., Vertesi, J., Sengers, P., and Dourish, P. How HCI interprets the probes. In Proc. CHI 2007. ACM Press (2007), 1077--1086. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Gaver, W., Dunne, T., and Pacenti, E. Cultural probes. Interactions 6, 1 (1999), 21--29. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Gaver, W., Hooker, B., & Dunne, A. The Presence Project RCA CRD Projects series RCA Research Publications, 2001.Google Scholar
- Gaver, W., Boucher, A., Pennington, S., and Walker, B. Cultural probes and the value of uncertainty. Interactions 11, 5 (2004), 53--56. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Leitner, M., Cockton, G., Yee, J., and Greenough, T. The hankie probe: a materialistic approach to mobile ux research In Proc CHI EA '12 ACM Press (2012), 19191924. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Mackay, W. E. 2004. The interactive thread. In Proc. DIS '04. NY: ACM Press, 103--112. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Mattelmäki, T. and Battarbee, K. Empathy Probes. In Proc PDC2002 Malmo 2002.Google Scholar
- Mattelmäki, T. Design Probes. University of Art and Design Helsinki. 2006.Google Scholar
- Mauss, M. The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies, trans. W. D. Halls, London: Routledge. ({1923--1924} 1990).Google Scholar
- Paulos, E. and Beckmann, C. 2006. Sashay. In Proc. CHI '06. NY: ACM Press, 881--884. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Paz, O. In Praise of Hands: Contemporary Crafts of the World. New York Graphic Society. 1974.Google Scholar
- Sennett, R. The Craftsman. Penguin Publishing, 2008.Google Scholar
- Wallace, J., Wright, P., McCarthy, J., Green, D., Thomas, J. and Olivier, P. A Design-led Inquiry into Personhood in Dementia. In Proc CHI 2013, ACM Press (2013). Google ScholarDigital Library
- Wallace, J., Thieme, A., Wood, G., Schofield, G. and Olivier, P. Enabling self, intimacy and a sense of home in dementia: an enquiry into design in a hospital setting. In Proc CHI 2012, ACM Press (2012), 2692--2638. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Wallace, J. and Press, M. All this useless beauty The Design Journal 7, 2 (2004), 42--53.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Wallace, J. and Press, M. Craft knowledge for the digital age. In Proc 6th Asian Design Conference (2003), 14-Google Scholar
- Wright, P., Blythe, M., and McCarthy, J. User experience and the idea of design in HCI Interactive Systems. Design, Specification, and Verification Springer Berlin/Heidelberg (2006), 1--14 Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- Making design probes work
Recommendations
How Design Researchers Interpret Probes: Understanding the Critical Intentions of a Designerly Approach to Research
CHI '21: Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsSince entering the HCI lexicon in the 1990s, Probes have been interpreted and used in divergent ways as a designerly approach to research. While originally positioned as a critique of dominant user-research methods, literature on Probes rarely reflects ...
The work of making: reflections on the process, form and function of two sets of design research artefacts
OzCHI '17: Proceedings of the 29th Australian Conference on Computer-Human InteractionIn this paper we present a reflexive account of the development of two separate Research-through-Design studies. We draw from the experience of designing and creating two separate sets of design research artefacts that fit within a broader study into ...
Needle as Input: Exploring Practice and Materiality When Crafting Becomes Computing
TEI '17: Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied InteractionA growing body of research combines craft and interaction design. The "Stitch Sampler" project, a sew-able musical instrument and craft platform, stands in this context. In particular, the project serves to underline the importance of two conceptual ...
Comments