Technology probes: inspiring design for and with families

ABSTRACT

We describe a new method for use in the process of co-designing technologies with users called technology probes. Technology probes are simple, flexible, adaptable technologies with three interdisciplinary goals: the social science goal of understanding the needs and desires of users in a real-world setting, the engineering goal of field-testing the technology, and the design goal of inspiring users and researchers to think about new technologies. We present the results of designing and deploying two technology probes, the messageProbe and the videoProbe, with diverse families in France, Sweden, and the U.S. We conclude with our plans for creating new technologies for and with families based on our experiences.

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Index Terms

• Applied computing

  • Law, social and behavioral sciences

    • Sociology

• Human-centered computing

  • Collaborative and social computing

    • Collaborative and social computing design and evaluation methods

  • Human computer interaction (HCI)

    • HCI design and evaluation methods

  • Interaction design

    • Interaction design process and methods

      • User centered design