How HCI interprets the probes

ABSTRACT

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.

REFERENCES

• 1: Eric Aley , Trina Cooper , Ross Graeber , Andruid Kerne , Kyle Overby , Zachary O. Toups, Censor chair: exploring censorship and social presence through psychophysiological sensing, Proceedings of the 13th annual ACM international conference on Multimedia, November 06-11, 2005, Hilton, Singapore [doi>10.1145/1101149.1101345]
• 2: A. K. Amin , B. T. A. Kersten , O. A. Kulyk , P. H. Pelgrim , C. M. Wang , P. Markopoulos, SenseMS: a user-centered approach to enrich the messaging experience for teens by non-verbal means, Proceedings of the 7th international conference on Human computer interaction with mobile devices & services, September 19-22, 2005, Salzburg, Austria [doi>10.1145/1085777.1085804]
• 3: Katja Battarbee , Nik Baerten , Martijn Hinfelaar , Paul Irvine , Susanne Loeber , Alan Munro , Thomas Pederson, Pools and satellites: intimacy in the city, Proceedings of the 4th conference on Designing interactive systems: processes, practices, methods, and techniques, June 25-28, 2002, London, England [doi>10.1145/778712.778746]
• 4: Katja Battarbee , Anne Soronen , Frans Mäyrä, Living in a zoo: bringing user experiences with technology to life, Proceedings of the third Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction, p.373-376, October 23-27, 2004, Tampere, Finland [doi>10.1145/1028014.1028073]
• 5: Mark Blythe , Andrew Monk , Jisoo Park, Technology biogarphies: field study techinques for home use product development, CHI '02 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 20-25, 2002, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA [doi>10.1145/506443.506532]
• 6: Susanne Bødker , Jannie F. Kristensen , Christina Nielsen , Werner Sperschneider, Technology for boundaries, Proceedings of the 2003 international ACM SIGGROUP conference on Supporting group work, November 09-12, 2003, Sanibel Island, Florida, USA [doi>10.1145/958160.958210]
• 7: Fiona Jane Candy, The fabric of society: a proposal to investigate the emotional and sensory experience of wearing denim clothing, Proceedings of the 2003 international conference on Designing pleasurable products and interfaces, June 23-26, 2003, Pittsburgh, PA, USA [doi>10.1145/782896.782904]
• 8: Apala Lahiri Chavan , Sushmita Munshi, Emotion in a ticket, CHI '04 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 24-29, 2004, Vienna, Austria [doi>10.1145/985921.986120]
• 9: Crabtree, A., Hemmings, T., Rodden, T., Clarke, K., Dewsbury, G., Hughes, J., Rouncefield, M. and Sommerville, I. (2002) "Sore legs and naked bottoms". Proc. DIRC Conference on Dependable Computing Systems, London: The Royal Statistical Society.
• 10: Pieter Desmet , Eva Dijkhuis, A wheelchair can be fun: a case of emotion-driven design, Proceedings of the 2003 international conference on Designing pleasurable products and interfaces, June 23-26, 2003, Pittsburgh, PA, USA [doi>10.1145/782896.782903]
• 11: Anind K. Dey , Ed de Guzman, From awareness to connectedness: the design and deployment of presence displays, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1124772.1124905]
• 12: Christian Dindler , Eva Eriksson , Ole Sejer Iversen , Andreas Lykke-Olesen , Martin Ludvigsen, Mission from Mars: a method for exploring user requirements for children in a narrative space, Proceeding of the 2005 conference on Interaction design and children, p.40-47, June 08-10, 2005, Boulder, Colorado [doi>10.1145/1109540.1109546]
• 13: Paul Dourish, Implications for design, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1124772.1124855]
• 14: Fitton, D, Chevherst, K., Rouncefield, M., Dix, A. and Crabtree, A. (2004) Probing Technology with Technology Probes. Paper presented at the Equator Workshop on Record and Replay Technologies.
• 15: Foucault, B. 2005. Designing Technology for Growing Families. Technology @ Intel Magazine. http://www.intel.com/technology/magazine/research/growing-families-0805.pdf
• 16: William Gaver , Anthony Dunne, Projected realities: conceptual design for cultural effect, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: the CHI is the limit, p.600-607, May 15-20, 1999, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States [doi>10.1145/302979.303168]
• 17: Bill Gaver , Tony Dunne , Elena Pacenti, Design: Cultural probes, interactions, v.6 n.1, p.21-29, Jan./Feb. 1999 [doi>10.1145/291224.291235]
• 18: Gaver, W.W., Hooker, B., and Dunne, A. (2001). The Presence Project. London: Royal College of Art.
• 19: William W. Gaver , Andrew Boucher , Sarah Pennington , Brendan Walker, Cultural probes and the value of uncertainty, interactions, v.11 n.5, September + October 2004 [doi>10.1145/1015530.1015555]
• 20: William W. Gaver , John Bowers , Andrew Boucher , Hans Gellerson , Sarah Pennington , Albrecht Schmidt , Anthony Steed , Nicholas Villars , Brendan Walker, The drift table: designing for ludic engagement, CHI '04 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 24-29, 2004, Vienna, Austria [doi>10.1145/985921.985947]
• 21: Lalya Gaye , Lars Erik Holmquist, In duet with everyday urban settings: a user study of sonic city, Proceedings of the 2004 conference on New interfaces for musical expression, p.161-164, June 03-05, 2004, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan
• 22: Penny Hagen , Toni Robertson , Melanie Kan , Kirsten Sadler, Emerging research methods for understanding mobile technology use, Proceedings of the 19th conference of the computer-human interaction special interest group (CHISIG) of Australia on Computer-human interaction: citizens online: considerations for today and the future, November 21-25, 2005, Canberra, Australia
• 23: Hemmings, T., Clarke, K., Crabtree, A., Rodden, T. and Rouncefield, M. (2002) Probing the Probes. In Proc. Participatory Design 2002, pp. 42--50.
• 24: Willem Horst , Ties Bunt , Stephan Wensveen , Lisa Cherian, Designing probes for empathy with families, Proceedings of the conference on Dutch directions in HCI, June 10, 2004, Amsterdam, Holland [doi>10.1145/1005220.1005239]
• 25: Steve Howard , Jesper Kjeldskov , Mikael B. Skov , Kasper Garnæs , Olga Grünberger, Negotiating presence-in-absence: contact, content and context, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1124772.1124906]
• 26: Sami Hulkko , Tuuli Mattelmäki , Katja Virtanen , Turkka Keinonen, Mobile probes, Proceedings of the third Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction, p.43-51, October 23-27, 2004, Tampere, Finland [doi>10.1145/1028014.1028020]
• 27: Hilary Hutchinson , Wendy Mackay , Bo Westerlund , Benjamin B. Bederson , Allison Druin , Catherine Plaisant , Michel Beaudouin-Lafon , Stéphane Conversy , Helen Evans , Heiko Hansen , Nicolas Roussel , Björn Eiderbäck, Technology probes: inspiring design for and with families, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, April 05-10, 2003, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA [doi>10.1145/642611.642616]
• 28: Katherine Isbister , Kristina Höök , Michael Sharp , Jarmo Laaksolahti, The sensual evaluation instrument: developing an affective evaluation tool, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1124772.1124946]
• 29: Ole Sejer Iversen , Anne Marie Kanstrup , Marianne Graves Petersen, A visit to the 'new Utopia': revitalizing democracy, emancipation and quality in co-operative design, Proceedings of the third Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction, p.171-179, October 23-27, 2004, Tampere, Finland [doi>10.1145/1028014.1028040]
• 30: Ole Sejer Iversen , Christina Nielsen, Using digital cultural probes in design with children, Proceeding of the 2003 conference on Interaction design and children, July 01-03, 2003, Preston, England [doi>10.1145/953536.953564]
• 31: Jönsson, B., Svensk, A., Cuartielles, D., Malmborg, L., Schlaucher, P. . Mobility and learning environments: Engaging people in design of their everyday environments. http://www.certec.lth.se/doc/mobility1/MobilityLearningReport021215.pdf
• 32: Joseph 'Jofish' Kaye, I just clicked to say I love you: rich evaluations of minimal communication, CHI '06 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1125451.1125530]
• 33: Kember, S., Cheverst, K., Clarke, K., Dewsbury, G., Hemmings, T., Rodden, T., and Rouncefield, M. 2003. Designing assistive technologies for medication tegimes in care settings. Universal Access in the Information Society, 2 (3), 235--242.
• 34: Joonhwan Kim , Sanghee Lee , SungWoo Kim, Understanding users in consumer electronics experience design, CHI '06 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1125451.1125492]
• 35: Simone Kriglstein , Gunter Wallner, HOMIE: an artificial companion for elderly people, CHI '05 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 02-07, 2005, Portland, OR, USA [doi>10.1145/1056808.1057106]
• 36: L. L. M. L. Kuiper-Hoyng , J. W. F. Beusmans, Using home networks to create atmospheres in the home: technology push or (latent) user need?, Proceedings of the conference on Dutch directions in HCI, June 10, 2004, Amsterdam, Holland [doi>10.1145/1005220.1005229]
• 37: Jean-Baptiste Labrune , Wendy Mackay, Tangicam: exploring observation tools for children, Proceeding of the 2005 conference on Interaction design and children, p.95-102, June 08-10, 2005, Boulder, Colorado [doi>10.1145/1109540.1109553]
• 38: Lindström, M., Ståhl, A., Höök, K., Sundström, P., Laaksolathi, J., Combetto, M., Taylor, A., and Bresin, R. 2006. Affective diary. In CHI '06 Extended Abstracts. NY: ACM Press, 1037--1042.
• 39: Jonas Lundberg , Aseel Ibrahim , David Jönsson , Sinna Lindquist , Pernilla Qvarfordt, "The snatcher catcher": an interactive refrigerator, Proceedings of the second Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction, October 19-23, 2002, Aarhus, Denmark [doi>10.1145/572020.572047]
• 40: Wendy E. Mackay, The interactive thread: exploring methods for multi-disciplinary design, Proceedings of the 5th conference on Designing interactive systems: processes, practices, methods, and techniques, August 01-04, 2004, Cambridge, MA, USA [doi>10.1145/1013115.1013131]
• 41: Heidy Maldonado , Brian Lee , Scott Klemmer, Technology for design education: a case study, CHI '06 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1125451.1125654]
• 42: Lena Mamykina , Elizabeth D. Mynatt , David R. Kaufman, Investigating health management practices of individuals with diabetes, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1124772.1124910]
• 43: Mattelmäki, T., Battarbee, K., Empathy Probes. Paper presented at Participation and Design, Malmö 2002.
• 44: David R. Millen, Rapid ethnography: time deepening strategies for HCI field research, Proceedings of the 3rd conference on Designing interactive systems: processes, practices, methods, and techniques, p.280-286, August 17-19, 2000, New York City, New York, United States [doi>10.1145/347642.347763]
• 45: John Murphy , Jesper Kjeldskov , Steve Howard , Graeme Shanks , Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, The converged appliance: "I love it... but I hate it", Proceedings of the 19th conference of the computer-human interaction special interest group (CHISIG) of Australia on Computer-human interaction: citizens online: considerations for today and the future, November 21-25, 2005, Canberra, Australia
• 46: William Newman, A preliminary analysis of the products of HCI research, using pro forma abstracts, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: celebrating interdependence, p.278-284, April 24-28, 1994, Boston, Massachusetts, United States [doi>10.1145/191666.191766]
• 47: Magnus Nilsson , Sara Johansson , Maria Håkansson, Nostalgia: an evocative tangible interface for elderly users, CHI '03 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 05-10, 2003, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA [doi>10.1145/765891.766096]
• 48: Eric Paulos , Chris Beckmann, Sashay: designing for wonderment, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1124772.1124901]
• 49: Eric Paulos , Tom Jenkins, Urban probes: encountering our emerging urban atmospheres, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, April 02-07, 2005, Portland, Oregon, USA [doi>10.1145/1054972.1055020]
• 50: Catherine Plaisant , Allison Druin , Hilary Hutchinson, Technologies for families, CHI '02 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 20-25, 2002, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA [doi>10.1145/506443.506669]
• 51: Tom Rodden , Steve Benford, The evolution of buildings and implications for the design of ubiquitous domestic environments, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, April 05-10, 2003, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA [doi>10.1145/642611.642615]
• 52: Anxo Cereijo Roibás , Stephen Johnson, Unfolding the user experience in new scenarios of pervasive interactive TV, CHI '06 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1125451.1125686]
• 53: Phoebe Sengers , Bill Gaver, Staying open to interpretation: engaging multiple meanings in design and evaluation, Proceedings of the 6th conference on Designing Interactive systems, June 26-28, 2006, University Park, PA, USA [doi>10.1145/1142405.1142422]
• 54: Phoebe Sengers , Rainer Liesendahi , Werner Magar , Christoph Seibert , Boris Müller , Thorston Joachims , Weidong Geng , Pia Mårtensson , Kristina Höök, The enigmatics of affect, Proceedings of the 4th conference on Designing interactive systems: processes, practices, methods, and techniques, June 25-28, 2002, London, England [doi>10.1145/778712.778728]
• 55: David Swallow , Mark Blythe , Peter Wright, Grounding experience: relating theory and method to evaluate the user experience of smartphones, Proceedings of the 2005 annual conference on European association of cognitive ergonomics, September 29-October 01, 2005, Chania, Greece
• 56: Frank Vetere , Hilary Davis , Martin R. Gibbs , Peter Francis , Steve Howard, A magic box for understanding intergenerational play, CHI '06 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1125451.1125722]
• 57: Frank Vetere , Martin R. Gibbs , Jesper Kjeldskov , Steve Howard , Florian 'Floyd' Mueller , Sonja Pedell , Karen Mecoles , Marcus Bunyan, Mediating intimacy: designing technologies to support strong-tie relationships, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, April 02-07, 2005, Portland, Oregon, USA [doi>10.1145/1054972.1055038]
• 58: Amy Voida , Elizabeth D. Mynatt, Conveying user values between families and designers, CHI '05 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 02-07, 2005, Portland, OR, USA [doi>10.1145/1056808.1057080]
• 59: Tracee Vetting Wolf , Jennifer A. Rode , Jeremy Sussman , Wendy A. Kellogg, Dispelling "design" as the black art of CHI, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1124772.1124853]

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.m MISCELLANEOUS

General Terms:
Theory

Keywords:
cultural probes, probes, reflective HCI