This document discusses how to conduct an effective cultural probe for a user research project. A cultural probe involves giving participants artifact packages containing tasks and tools to document their experiences over time. This probe was aimed at understanding the context and tasks for mobile enablement of enterprise capabilities. The probe was designed to validate hypotheses, provide a longitudinal view of a day, and understand context preferences. The probe packages contained diaries for two days, a camera, pen, and briefing. Participants were recruited and briefed on carrying out the probe tasks and documenting their experiences in the provided diaries at specified times. Challenges that may be encountered include getting approval, low participant completion rates, and difficulty analyzing results. Addressing these challenges involves clear communication, making the

1. How to run an effective Cultural Probe on your project
Matt Morphett
matt@amberdew.com.au
twitter: @mattmorphett
Cultural Probes
Rob McLellan
robert.mclellan@team.telstra.com.au

2. What is a Cultural Probe?
User research method
Gaver et al 1999 (inspired by Situationist International)
Package of artifacts (e.g. post cards, camera, diary, sound recorder)
Evocative tasks for participant to perform & report upon
http://www.sfu.ca/~nrz/333%20website/index.html http://www.worx.at/blog/cultural-probes/

3. Our Brief
Mobile enablement of Enterprise
capabilities
“We need to put in place measures to counter
the proliferation of Enterprise Mobile apps, and
ensure they make sense and serve real needs…”
Where to start?

4. Design & Research Scope
Devices + Context +Tasks

5. Why we did a probe?
AM PM
Validate and pressure test our hypotheses
Day in the life
AM PM
Longitudinal view...
Day in the life
AM PM
Build evidence to understand context preferences
Day in the life

6. Designing the Probe

9. 1. Day 1 (Wednesday) diary
2. Day 2 (Thursday) diary
3. Camera (24 shots)
4. Pen
5. Briefing Pack (contact details)

10. How to Prep
1. Choose reporting times wisely
2. Give participants tasks
3. Ask them to imagine
4. Poll for feelings and opinions.

11. Recruiting Participants

12. How to Recruit
1. Pay a little extra
2. Recruit at least 7 participants
3. Set participants expectations
- 30min / day
- Photos
- Carry diary with you
- Briefing before, call after.

13. Briefing Participants

14. How to Brief Participants
1. Brief participants together in person
2. Include instructions in their pack
3. Call them after the first day.

15. Briefing and debriefing process
Tuesday
Take your packs home tonight
Wednesday
1. Take your pack with you through the day
2. Fill in the entries at the specified times
3. We will call you Wednesday evening to check everything is OK
Thursday
1. Take your pack with you through the day
2. Fill in the entries at the specified times
Friday
Rob will collect packs from you at work/home
Tuesday
1hr debrief by telephone.

16. What are we Asking You to do?
Carry and make notes in a diary…
• Take the materials to work /
uni with you.
• Please try to complete the
pages at the times indicated:
• 8am
• 11am
• 6pm
• 8pm
• Be very aware of your
environmental context.
• Summarise your thoughts at
the end of the day.
• Be candid:
• We’re just as interested in
what you don’t like!

17. So how does this work?
Follow the numbered steps in the diary…

18. So how does this work?
Follow the numbered steps in the diary…

19. So how does this work?
Example entry
Because it would be handy to have all my
meeting notes with me at any time – I could go
back and review. I might not have to carry a
notepad – one less thing to carry.
I wouldn’t want to feel like a show-off with an
iPad at a meeting in the office.
I’ve tried those stylus things and they aren’t
great.
I can’t imagine it would be as fast an easy as
writing on paper.

20. So how does this work?
Summarise the day

21. The Challenges
You WillEncounter

22. Challenge 1 - You can’t convince
management to let you do one.
1. Communicate: “It isn’t risky” – one part of overall research approach
2. Communicate: “It gathers unique insights” – contextual & longitudinal &
less influenced by research method
3. Provide early findings to stakeholders (pepper with photos)
Presentation made weekly communicating findings as they evolved.

23. Challenge 2 - Participants don’t fill
in the diaries
1. Make awesome diaries
2. Look participants in the eye at the briefing
3. Call them on day 1
4. Tell them you’ll call after it’s done

24. Challenge 3 – Results hard to form
into recommendations or designs
1. Allow side-by-side comparison for trend finding
2. Affinity diagram the main themes
3. Ask them to perform tasks & talk about how they feel in that context
4. Follow up call and ask “Why?”
5. Use findings to drive quant. research

25. Other lessons
1. Don’t get too smart with technology
2. Allow a full day for production and assembly
3. Don’t cheap out on the cameras
4. Balance need to see tasks performed across time with providing variety.

26. Matt Morphett
matt@amberdew.com.au
twitter: @mattmorphett
Thanks
Rob McLellan
robert.mclellan@team.telstra.com
Full 52 page diary template (covering 7 day period) with worked examples available now at…
www.amberdew.com.au