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Probing user values in the home environment within a technology driven Smart Home project

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Abstract

Smart Home technology looks set to become an increasingly common feature of domestic life. However commercial desire for technical innovation rather than explicit user needs are often the driving force behind the development of Smart Home products and services. This study adapts the Cultural Probe approach developed by Gaver et al. [2] to collect primarily visual data about what people value within their home environment. Whereas Cultural Probes are predominantly used to build empathy with users when designing product concepts, this approach attempted to provide similarly fun and engaging prompts for data collection when the design process and project context required more structured consideration of user needs. This paper presents the method developed, project findings and recommendations on how the method should be applied.

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Acknowledgments

This work forms part of the TAHI projects, funded by UK’s Department for Trade and Industry and project partners. Thanks go to all the participants who took part in the Photo Study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ergonomics and Safety Research Institute, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3UZ, UK

    Victoria Haines, Val Mitchell, Catherine Cooper & Martin Maguire

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  1. Victoria Haines
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  2. Val Mitchell
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  3. Catherine Cooper
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  4. Martin Maguire
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Correspondence to Victoria Haines.

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Haines, V., Mitchell, V., Cooper, C. et al. Probing user values in the home environment within a technology driven Smart Home project. Pers Ubiquit Comput 11, 349–359 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-006-0075-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-006-0075-6

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