EXPLORATORY DESIGN RESEARCH
Interaction Design South America 2011
Elizabeth Goodman, University of California, Berkeley
SCHEDULE
 Introductions
 The nature of exploratory research
 Our project for today
 Asking initial questions
 Method 1: “Walking tour”
 Lunch
 Discussion
 Method 2: Probes
 Method 3: Co-creation
 Method 4: Games
INTRODUCTIONS
 What’s your first name?
 What is your job?
 What would you like to
learn at this workshop?
ABOUT ME
Urban exploration interfaces and games
User research handbook
geolocated chatting
Community garden studies
Ethnography of interaction design
What’s
exploratory?
THE NATURE
OF EXPLORATORY
DESIGN RESEARCH
What’s
research?
The researcher uses these methods
not to answer precisely framed questions,
but in order to generate the questions themselves,
in directions he or she does not control:
in order to find the blind spots.
“Mapping the Experiential Context
of Product Use”
Pieter Jan Stappers, Froukje
Sleeswijk Visser, and Ianus Keller
DIMENSIONS
of
EXPLORATION
inspiration
behavior
“Art”
meaning
“Engineering”
information
DESK
RESEARCH
 Make things
 Read a lot
 Talk to many experts
 Question assumptions
!!!
Photo: Lalo de Almeida for The New York Times
CLUES TO A GOOD PROJECT
“Doing my I’s and O’s”
“He’s a troll”
Jargon/slang
Evocative imagery
“We never do that here”
Absolutes
“That’s not punk rock”
Group definition and exclusion
“Skydiving is crazy”
Accusations of insanity or stupidity
Tricks of the Trade
Howard Becker
Basics of Qualitative Research
Anselm Strauss and Juliet Corbin
LOOKING FOR RELATIONSHIPS
Between people, places, and objects
Say
Think
Do
Use
Know
Feel
Dream
From User-Centered to
Participatory Design Approaches
Elizabeth Sanders, 2002
LOOKING FOR RELATIONSHIPS
Between people, places, and objects
Say
Think
Do
Use
Know
Feel
Say
Do
Make
Dream
From User-Centered to
Participatory Design Approaches
Elizabeth Sanders, 2002
LOOKING FOR RELATIONSHIPS
Between people, places, and objects
Say
Think
Do
Use
Know
Feel
Say
Surveys
Interviews
Diaries
Do
Observation
Probes/games
Make
Co-creation
Dream
“From User-Centered to
Participatory Design Approaches”
Elizabeth Sanders
LOOKING FOR RELATIONSHIPS
Between people, places, and objects
Say
Think
Do
Use
Know
Feel
Say
Surveys
Interviews
Diaries
Do
Observation
Probes/games
Make
Co-creation
Dream
From User-Centered to
Participatory Design Approaches
Elizabeth Sanders
The key is looking carefully at what people
actually do in various situations and asking ourselves
questions such as these…
Why has someone placed this object here?
What are those people doing and why are they grouped
like that?
Why is it that people apparently avoid being here?
Curiosity will reveal meaning behind these
nonspectacular interactions that take place
around us all the time.
Thoughtless Acts?
Observations on Intuitive Design
Jane Fulton Suri and IDEO
OBSERVATION FRAMEWORK
Activities: What are people doing?
Environments: Where is the action happening?
Interactions: What operations are being carried out?
Objects: What things are being put to use?
Users: Which people are involved?
“Ethnography in the field of design”
Christina Wasson (Doblin)
EXPERIENTIAL ENCOUNTERS
Traces
Workarounds
Paths
Feelings
Territories
Goals
Talk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/loxea/4045627675/in/pool-thoughtlessacts
OBSERVATION: TO MAKE/KEEP
 Notes
 Photos/Drawings
 Maps
 Souvenirs
OBSERVATION Belo Horizonte
Pick a spot as a group
Inside or outside hotel
Stay there for at least 15 minutes
•
•
•
•
Don’t hide, but try not to stand out – especially if you are
taking photographs
If anyone asks, you’re “doing this for a class assignment”
If people ask you to leave, move along.
Even if it’s boring – especially if it’s boring — stay in the
place you chose for at least 15 minutes. Ask yourself: why
do you think this boring? What’s happening during the
“boring parts”?
 Lunch
OBSERVATION Discussion
In your groups, pick 3 of your
most interesting or surprising
observations. Pick one person
to present your 3 observations.
You have 10 minutes.
Tell us about them!
Each group has 3 minutes.
As other people talk,
write down: what
PEOPLE, ACTIVITIES,
or TOOLS would be
interesting to explore
further?
OUR PROJECT FOR TODAY
Imagine that you have been asked
to explore tourism in Belo
Horizonte in order to design a new
product or service. Where would
you start?
Image: Mena Design
Research
CULTURAL PROBES
Encourage imaginative personal reflection
through structured, but playful, activities
About CULTURAL PROBES
Photos: J Deruna/Flickr
Making a
CULTURA
L PROBE
ASK PEOPLE TO
 IMAGINE possibilities, dreams,
nightmares
 CONNECT emotions and memories
to places and products
 INVITE fantasy, humor, whimsy
Photo: GCBB/Flickr
ACTIVITIES
 Photography
 Drawing
 Mapping
 Listing
 Collecting
ON THEIR OWN, USING A KIT YOU GIVE THEM
CULTURAL PROBE Tasks
“Put a red dot
on things you
dislike and take
a photo.”
Stickers
“Tell us about
your dreams as
soon as you
wake up.”
Voice recorder
“Write a letter
to your future
self about your life
now.”
Postcard
“Draw your
path to school.
Where do you
feel safest?”
Maps
“Cultural Probes”
Bill Gaver, Tony Dunne, and
Elena Pacenti
Camera
Postcard
Photo: GCBB/Flickr
Stickers
Photo: J Deruna/Flickr
Maps
TOOLS FOR
CULTURAL
PROBES
 Postcards
 Stickers
 Maps
 Cameras
 Voice recorders
 Card decks
… et cetera!
CULTURAL PROBES HOW-TO
1. Design the probe kit
2.Give it to people
3.Wait for them to return it
4.Interpret for inspiration!
PROBES are not DIARIES
CULTURAL PROBE EXERCISE
In your groups, invent 3 activities
for a cultural probe of tourism in
Belo Horizonte.
– Who is the audience for your probe?
You have 15 minutes.
CULTURAL PROBE DISCUSSION
Each group has 3 minutes to
present their ideas, with 3
minutes for group comments.
CULTURAL PROBE TIPS
Embrace personal
interpretations
Schedule follow-up
interviews to discuss
with participants
Promise design
inspiration, not
informational
recommendations
“Cultural Probes and Uncertainty”
Bill Gaver, Andrew Boucher, Sarah
Pennington, and Brendan Walker.
Photos: Felipe Sarmiento
CO-CREATION with participants
Diabetes journey map: Gloria Murillo
What is CO-CREATION?
Generative techniques that allow
people to tell stories about their
experiences using creative play
with objects
Activities that involve
non-designers in the
design process
CO-CREATION TOOLKIT
 Image collection
 different subjects and styles,
some more literally related,
some more figurative or
poetic
 Cut-outs of paper, fabric,
foam in geometric shapes
 Scissors and glue
 Colored markers
Stickers from Wayne Chung
CO-CREATION PRINCIPLES
 Prompt discussion about
dreams, fears, beliefs
 Ask people to express
thoughts and emotions
 Support creativity
with ambiguous prompts
 Focus on describing
experiences rather than
identifying features
 Don’t reward polish or
demand artistic skill
ACTIVITIES
 “Day in the life”
 Timelines/cycles
 Autobiographies
 Spatial maps
 Mood boards/collages
 Sticker-placing
 Model-making
CO-CREATION EXERCISE
Make a timeline of your Belo
Horizonte trip thus far.
Then, discuss it with a partner.
CO-CREATION EXERCISE Part 1
1. Take a sheet from the big pad and draw a horizontal
line across it. This is your journey to BH.
2. Now, take a look at the objects we have given you.
Take any of them that seem to represent those steps
and start gluing them along the line. You don’t have to
use all the shapes – just use what makes sense to you.
Use the pens to add any explanations or details that
will complete the picture of your journey. Feel free to
use the scissors to cut new shapes if you like.
You have 10 minutes.
CO-CREATION EXERCISE Part 2
1. Ask your partner to explain their journey map to you.
You might ask:
– What does each shape mean?
– Why did you pick that shape?
– What did you learn about your journey in making this map?
… or anything else.
2. After 5 minutes, it will be your partner’s turn to ask
questions.
Each person will have 5 minutes to talk.
CO-CREATION
TIPS
Schedule as a group
workshop or as part
of interviews
Using the same people
to evaluate prototypes
later gives consistency
Spatial map of a kitchen activity
Froukje Sleesjwik Visser
Can be taken literally,
for information, or as
a source of inspiration.
Works well with
cultural probes
BREAK – 15 MINUTES
GAMES and PLAY
Urban transportation
roleplaying game by
Alideh Ghanpour
WHAT MAKES A GAME?
Defined Constraints + Defined Objectives (Points optional)
Homo Ludens
Johan Huizinga
Man, Play and Games
Roger Caillois
Rules of Play
Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
GAMES are not GAMIFICATION
USING GAMES TO ASK
QUESTIONS
TACTICS
Make a new game
Use an existing game
Modify a research activity
to make it more game-like
“Design Games”
Donna Spencer
PATTERNS
 What-if
 Role-playing
 Buying and selling
 Matching/grouping
 Collecting
 Races
… et cetera
“Participatory Design:
The Third Space in HCI”
Michael Muller
Technique 1 FREELISTING
ASK
List all the words
you can think of that
describe…
Take as many
photographs as you
can of….
Constraints
 Under __ minutes
 In teams
 No points given for
words shared with
other teams
Outcome
 The most items
receives a prize
Technique 2 THE MAGIC IF
Ask
What would your day be like
if…
How would you respond if…
Where would your life
improve if…
Constraints
 Reversal of the usual
 Exaggeration of what
exists now
 Absence of something you
expect
 Presence of something
new
Technique 3 ROLEPLAY
(Bodystorm)
Try
Act out an activity that
relates to your topic, using
everyday objects as props.
Constraints
 Under __ minutes
 In teams
How does your body feel?
Where do you encounter an
obstacle? What causes the
obstacle? Consider how you
could change the situation
to remove it.
Outcome
 Empathize with
potential users.
 Identify appropriate
sites for intervention.
 Generate ideas for new
interactions.
Technique 4 REFRAMING
Ask
Make a superhero for the
situation. What are his/her
special powers? Design the
costume.
Pitch a TV show about the
lives of the people you’re
interested in. Is it a comedy? A
drama? Give it a name and
describe the major characters.
Constraints
 Under __ minutes
 In teams
Outcome
 Present the stories to
the group
 People vote for the
best idea
ACTING OUT Part 1
Pick an activity relevant to tourism.
Choose people to act out all the roles in the situation.
– If there are more people than roles, replay the scene with other
people in the same roles.
– If you need a prop, make one out of paper or use an available
object as a substitute.
Choose one person to act as the note-taker.
ACTING OUT Part 2
Now, act it out! Move your body as the people in the
situation move, and say what you remember them saying.
If you feel a problem, obstacle, or moment of joy in the role
you are playing, say “FREEZE!” and tell the note-taker
about it. Then keep going.
If you have time, try to solve the problems that you
discovered while acting.
You have 15 minutes to play.
EXPLORATORY
ANALYSIS
ASK
 Where were/are the blind
spots in your approach?
 What would change this
situation for the better?
 What other situations are
relevant to this research?
 Where are the digital
tools? Do you care?
 What other questions
do you have now?
TOOLS
 WRITE Thick/rich description of
action
 IDENTIFY recurring problems and
responses
 MAP Cycles of activity
 Presence/absence
 FOLLOW linear processes, growth
 LIST Ecologies of tools
METHODS SUMMARY
CONTACT WITH
NON-DESIGNERS
QUESTIONING
ASSUMPTIONS
PRODUCES
DESIGN
CONCEPTS
DESK RESEARCH
NO
SOMETIMES
NO
OBSERVATION
NO
SOMETIMES
NO
CULTURAL
PROBES
YES
CO-CREATION
GAMES
YES
SOMETIMES
YES
SOMETIMES
YES
SOMETIMES
YES
SOMETIMES
FINAL DISCUSSION
Is there anything you’d like to talk
more about?
Anything that I didn’t mention?
Any thoughts you’d like to share?
THANKS!
More questions and comments?
egoodman@ischool.berkeley.edu
@egoodman, +egoodman
www.confectious.net
A complete list of references is at
the end of this presentation. The presentation is
available (for workshop members only, please)
at: www.confectious.net/ixda-sa/exploratorydesign-workshop.pptx
PROMPTS
PROMPTS
AEIOU HANDOUT
DESK RESEARCH SOURCES
 Flickr memes: “Day in the Life”; “What’s in your bag”
 Forums and blogs
 Read academic papers from the ACM: portal.acm.org
 Non-fiction books, of course
 Textbooks and educational materials
 Memoirs and oral histories
REFERENCES Asking Questions
Tricks of the Trade
Howard Becker
Basics of Qualitative Research
Anselm Strauss and Juliet Corbin
REFERENCES Observation
Ethnography in the field of design.
Christina Wasson
Participant Observation
James P Spradley
IDEO Thoughtless Acts Flickr Pool
REFERENCES Co-creation
Understanding anyone’s social network
in 60 minutes
Paul Adams
Maketools
Elizabeth Sanders
ID-StudioLab Delft
information and many helpful publications
“Participatory Design: The Third Space in HCI”
Michael Muller
REFERENCES Cultural probes
“Cultural Probes”
Bill Gaver, Tony Dunne, and Elena Pacenti
“Cultural Probes and the value of uncertainty.”
Bill Gaver, Andy Boucher, Sarah Pennington, and
Brendan Walker
Flickr Design probes group
REFERENCES Games
Man, Play and Games
Roger Caillois
Homo Ludens
Johan Huizinga
40 Social Mechanics for Social Games
Raph Koster
“Participatory Design: The Third Space in HCI”
Michael Muller
Rules of Play
Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
“Design Games”
Donna Spencer