Cameras as cultural probes in requirements gathering — Exploring their potential in supporting the design of assistive technology

Using Cultural Probes to Inform the Design of Assistive Technologies

“…Traditional approaches of data gathering that rely on methods such as observations, focus groups, interviews and questionnaires contribute meaningful knowledge only focused on the design team's perspectives, which do not always adequately reflect participants' concerns. This informational gap can be resolved by utilising cultural probes as a research method to allow participants to determine the focus of some of the elicitation activities, and help designers gain a deeper insight into people's lives that may not otherwise be considered [2].…”

“…'Cultural Probes' were first developed by Gaver et al [2] as a research method to design technologies for the home. It is a technique that is used to inspire ideas in a design process and serves as a means of gathering inspirational data about people's lives, values and thoughts.…”

A mixed-method approach to evoke creative and holistic thinking about robots in a home environment

“…A combination of a cultural probe study, workshops and a survey were used as a means of primary data gathering. The cultural probe study [22] found that the value of getting participants to use disposable cameras helped to shift the focus from what the researchers thought was relevant, to what the participants flagged as important in their lives and were found to be more candid and open about discussing personal issues as a result. Following this, two types of workshops were organised, Embodiment workshops, using multi-modal stimuli, where the focus was on understanding the nature of a robot as interface that would appeal to people and what would not, and Scenariofocussed workshops, which were part of the evaluation phase of the project, exploring issues related to user acceptance from a more functional perspective as in relation to the context of use and MOBISERV system functions which includes reminders and encouragement for eating, drinking and exercise, social interaction using Skype and control of lights, window blinds, temperature and front door entry.…”

Needs Investigation Methods Compatible With Key End User Limitation (Nickel): A Tool For Selecting User Centered Needs Elicitation Methods For Older Adults

“…The major criterion in conducting a culture probe activity is that the design kit should contain materials that will support the goal of the researcher. Also, the researcher should not make any addition or modification of the kit halfway through the process to justify the results (Caleb-Solly, Flind, & Vargheese, 2011). For my research, eight papers were identified where a cultural probe method was used as a primary method of data collection which will be described below.…”

“…Low vision participants might not even have a chance to use the accessibility options when researchers choose to use disposable cameras (Caleb-Solly et al, 2011;Wherton et al, 2012b).…”