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How Design Researchers Interpret Probes: Understanding the Critical Intentions of a Designerly Approach to Research

Sena Çerçi,Marta E. Cecchinato,John Vines

Published 2021 in International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

ABSTRACT

Since entering the HCI lexicon in the 1990s, Probes have been interpreted and used in divergent ways as a designerly approach to research. While originally positioned as a critique of dominant user-research methods, literature on Probes rarely reflects on such critical dimensions nor explicitly articulates the intents of using Probes as research artifacts. We conducted interviews with 12 design researchers who have worked with Probes within diverse Research through Design projects, exploring direct accounts of how and why Probes are used in practice. Our interviews brought to the fore the critical concerns behind Probe practices in relation to the language of Probing, relationships with participants, and motivations to challenge normative practices. While the pluralistic interpretations of Probes offered by our participants brings challenges, we discuss how making visible the critical motivations of our research opens up new ways of practicing and disseminating Probes.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2021

  • Venue

    International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  • Publication date

    2021-05-06

  • Fields of study

    Computer Science

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.1145/3411764.3445328
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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