Studying and Designing Technology for Domestic Life

Chapter 5

The Flexible Realities of Using Design Probes

Reflections from a Care Home Context

Jayne Wallace^∗,  and Siân Lindley^{§     ∗}Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK     ^§Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK

Abstract

We describe the use of design probes to study the circumstance of living in residential care. We worked closely with a single care home in the United Kingdom with the aim of building deeper relationships with a small number of residents. We structured our visits as creative sessions for which probes were specifically designed. The sessions took place in communal areas of the home, and so they allowed us to understand the social dynamics of these spaces as well as to closely engage with a small ...