"Some complex design challenges involve people of different cultures, languages, and societies where traditional research approaches won't help us adequately emphathize with their experiences." (Battarbee et al., 2012: p. 7)
The cultural probe method encourages participants to make a visual journal and reflection of their encounter with a culture context/experience. Probes gathered and compared across many participants offer the possibility to provide both generalisable information and deep insights (potential for broad and/or deep learning).
The following exercise provides a 'flavour' of the method:
Suggested protocol to conduct a cultural probe as follows:
- Take a trip to a local shop, market, or a specialist food store.
- Purchase 1 inexpensive food item you never tried before (1x photo).
- Research how to prepare it to eat or use it as an ingredient.
- Follow the recipe to prepare the food and test it.
- Write a paragraph-note summarising the exercise.
- Findings: Captured in (at least) a 1+ photo and (at least) a 1+ paragraph-note.
Reflections from students:
"The homework’s cultural probe was an assignment that made me reflect on the concept of design empathy and the importance of investing yourself into new contexts and open your senses. The bad designs homework has for example made me look at the world in a different ways. I now notice things from a design perspective that I otherwise wouldn’t have noticed before."
"The cultural probe exercise was not a simple cooking exercise, for a first-time chef like me; it was an interest-oriented, research-based, process designed operation with excellent results."
