We trace how cultural probes have been adopted and adapted by the HCI community. The flexibility of probes has been central to their uptake, resulting in a proliferation of divergent uses and derivatives. The varying patterns of adaptation of the probes reveal important underlying issues in HCI, suggesting underacknowledged disagreements about valid interpretation and the relationship between methods and their underlying methodology. With this analysis, we aim to clarify discussions around probes, and, more importantly, around how we define and evaluate methods in HCI, especially those grounded in unfamiliar conceptions of how research should be done.

/pdf/how-hci-interprets-the-probes-3pmixiabyn.pdf

How HCI interprets the probes

Recent developments in mobile technologies have produced a new kind of device: a programmable mobile phone, the smartphone. In this article, the authors argue that the technological and social char...

http://realitycommons.media.mit.edu/pdfs/Raento09.pdf

Smartphones: An Emerging Tool for Social Scientists

In user-centered design, attention has shifted from improving usability and addressing ergonomic problems to wider perspectives such as experiences in everyday life. This shift has forced user-centered practitioners to evaluate and develop tools for finding new means of understanding user experience for design. Visual, playful and open-ended probes have raised fresh interest in the design community. In order to create a deeper understanding of this approach, this paper presents the fundamental qualities of probes and, based on empirical data and literature, describes four reasons for applying them in the product development and concept design context: for inspiration, for information, for participation and for dialogue.

Applying probes – from inspirational notes to collaborative insights

This paper explores playfulness between grandparents and grandchildren, especially when they are separated by distance, and investigates ideas to bridge this separation. We present the result of a three stage investigation; the first an observational study of collocated intergenerational play groups, the second a cultural probes study of distributed intergenerational playfulness, and finally a technology probe study of a system for mediating intergenerational play across distance. In each case we discuss the nature of intergenerational play, the methodological issues, and explore opportunities for technological innovation through the 'Collage'. We argue that existing knowledge concerning the nature of support for the young-or-older users engaged in instrumental activities are inadequate when we wish to build understanding of and design for young-and-older users, engaged in collective playfulness.

https://people.eng.unimelb.edu.au/showard/papers/IJHCS08.pdf

The Magic Box and Collage: Responding to the challenge of distributed intergenerational play

Mobile devices, applications and services have become integrated into people's daily lives on a personal and professional level. Although traditional research methods are being used to understand the use of mobile devices and applications, methodological challenges still exist. Researchers have responded to these challenges in a range of ways, with an emphasis on developing methods that enable new ways of accessing, making available and collecting, data about mobile technology use. This paper identifies, defines, describes and presents, a preliminary framework for understanding the methodological responses emerging in current Mobile Human Computer Interaction (Mobile HCI) research.

/pdf/emerging-research-methods-for-understanding-mobile-3en10w3788.pdf

Emerging research methods for understanding mobile technology use

This paper describes a new digital user study tool called Mobile Probes. Mobile Probes arose from a need to develop contextual and dynamic self-documenting tools for studying people's actions in mobile contexts. The technology used in the pilot study was based on dual band mobile phones with GPRS connections and an external accessory digital camera. A system was also developed for sharing and sorting the data. The system was implemented with Java software to enable the device to send and receive data, and PHP scripting to send and edit the questions and to view the answers through a dynamic web server. Another pilot study was conducted with a flexible platform that operates a spatio-temporal mobile log. The results of the studies show that Mobile Probes are a promising way to conduct user studies. Ideas for future development of the tool are discussed.

Mobile probes

This paper describes the results of the case study 'eWork at Home'. The case focused on understanding the needs of eWorkers. Among the aims was to define requirements for the user-centred design of future eWork environments in a home- office or an apartment. The requirements are described in three real stories of eWork at home that illustrate the current reality of eWork and attempts to balance work and home life. The understanding of subjective perspective can broaden the design requirements from simple visual or functional aspects by taking into account activities in social contexts, personal values and attitudes.

/pdf/visiting-eworkers-homes-three-stories-for-designing-ework-496856c0lo.pdf

Katja Virtanen

Papers

Mobile probes

Visiting eWorkers' Homes - Three Stories for Designing eWork Homes and Furniture