02.14 // Cultural Probes Presentations, Affinity Diagramming
Syllabus | Class Box Folder | Cultural Probes Assignment | Affinity Diagramming Assignment
Our final four presentations of cultural probes deployed at Construction Junction (CJ) explored students’ work from the past several weeks. Each team explored multiple iterations of their probe, and were able to innovate in (1) the design of the probe and (2) the analysis of the data that came back.
A few common themes emerged —
Borrow insights from ad placement strategy. How might a probe or activity fit comfortably into the style of the environment, and how might it stand out and increase viewership?
Encourage open-ended responses. Some methods included open, white-spaces, and welcoming openers —
“You can ask any kinds of questions, but you can also choose from the ones we’ve prepared for you :)”
“Write your responses however you want!”
“Try to respond to all of the prompts and complete each task, but if you ever feel like writing your own thing, go for it!”
Encourage visual responses. Mediums used include asking Construction Junction customers to take photographs or draw pictures that represented their mental concepts.
Provoke responses. Include hypothetical scenarios to elicit more insightful responses.
“The break room is on fire. What two things would you take…”
Create a design artifact that feels personal. Includes pocket notebooks, designed souvenirs.
In-class activity — affinity diagramming
The last half of class was devoted to teams categorizing their insights, making sure to label from the viewpoint of the customer’s voice.
