Name of Method
Brief description
Type/Level of Method
Challenges
Cultural probes serve as an extremely useful tool for gaining insight into how certain social systems operate, why participants feel certain ways (trusting or distrusting), and how certain services are currently experienced/might be offered in more fitting ways. As such, they are a helpful tool to understand how and why a tool should be designed to overcome certain barriers.
Problem, Purpose and Needs
Cultural probes are appropriate when you need to
gather information from participants with minimal
influence on their actions, or when the process or
event you’re exploring takes place intermittently or
over a long period. Additionally, when a topic or context might be too sensitive or personal to gain insight into, Cultural Probes offer a less intrusive way to learn about participants beliefs, desires, and cultural preferences. Furthermore, if the central research topic is one that a participant may find challenging to describe clearly, cultural probes can be creative, non-verbal communication methods for participants to provide insight into what the issue is. Typically, a pack of easily reproducible and low-cost cultural probes are provided by researchers directly to participants with instructions for how participants can or should use the cultural probes. This might include asking participants to use a disposable camera to take photos of anything that relates to the topic, to keep a daily journal about their experiences with the topic, to write a postcard to a friend about a daily experience, etc. It is important to offer participants clarity about what they are expected to do with the Cultural probes without overly determining exactly what they will record. Participants should be encouraged to do as much as they feel comfortable with and to use whatever means of expression they wanted.
Relevance to Climate Neutrality
Challenges
Thematic Areas
Impact Goals
Issue Complexity
Issue Polarisation
Enabling Condition
Essential Considerations for Commissioning Authorities
This tool could be useful to analyse a context and experiment with potential solutions before contracting.
Engagement Journey
Governance Models and Approaches
Enabling Conditions
Democratic Purpose
Spectrum of participation
Communication Channels
Actors and Stakeholder Relationships
The activity is best done with stakeholders who have a close proximity or lived experience relative to an issue. For example, using cultural probes with citizens might offer useful insight into how a solution should be shaped or the needs it has to respond to.
Each type of actor and stakeholder may not be engaged with cultural probes in a project, but each can be to gain specific insight into their experience relative to a particular issue.
Participant Numbers
Actors and Stakeholders
Participant Recruitment
Interaction between participants
Format
Social Innovation Development Stage
Scope
Time commitment
Cultural probes are appropriate when you need to gather information from participants with minimal influence on their actions, or when the process or event you’re exploring takes place intermittently or over a long period. Unlike direct observation (like usability testing or traditional field studies), the technique allows participants to self-report. Each individual time a participant self-reports can take anywhere from a few minutes to 30m.
The amount of time necessary can be adjusted to fit the needs of the research and participants.
Resources and Investments
Typical duration
Resources and Investments
In-house
Step by Step
Selected participants are briefed, given a kit of materials, and briefed about the requirement to record or note specific events, feelings or interactions over a specified period. Typically, a follow-up interview is conducted at some point after the briefing session. This helps ensure that participants are actively engaged, and are collecting the required information.
Evaluation
At the end of the specified period, the materials are collected and analysed. A de-briefing session is also typically conducted, in order to supplement, validate and otherwise explore the information gathered by the participants. Information gathered is then analysed, and documented in some fashion.
Affinity diagramming can be used to analyse the data gathered. The data can also be used to create personas.
Connecting Methods
Affinity diagramming, personas, prototyping (more generally).
Flexibility and Adaptability
The tool should be translated into the local language. If needed, additional features and elements can be added.
Existing Guidelines and Best Practice
References and Further Resources
BURROWS, A., MITCHELL, V. and NICOLLE, C., 2015. Cultural probes and levels of creativity. IN: Proceedings of Mobile HCI: 17th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services Adjunct, Copenhagen, Denmark, ACM Digital Library, pp. 920 – 923
Gaver, William & Dunne, Anthony & Pacenti, Elena. (1999). Design: Cultural Probes. Interactions. 6. 21-29. 10.1145/291224.291235.
Gaver, W. W., Boucher, A., Pennington, S., & Walker, B. (2004). Cultural Probes and the Value of Uncertainty.
Interactions, 11(5), 53–56.
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