Probes and participation
Abstract
This exploratory paper reflects on the relationship between methodological techniques and forms of user participation. Specifically our concern is to document and describe our experiences with different kinds of participation that different sorts of 'Probes' - 'Cultural Probes', 'Technology Probes' etc - elicit, encourage and provoke. Analysis of the different kinds of participation invoked by Probes - imaginative, investigative, emotional, discursive, reactive, disruptive, reflective, and playful - may prove useful as heuristic devices guiding the selection and deployment of these methodological and design tools. Whilst there are further opportunities for new forms of participation through 'Probing', new concerns, challenges and risks also emerge.
