Cultural Probes IT & Computer Science Essay Research (Essay Sample)

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Cultural probe
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) refers to a diverse field of study that focuses on computer technology design and particularly the interface between humans and machines. Cultural probes in human-computer interaction refer to a technique used to motivate the development of ideas during the design process. The design of the probes is as small packages, including artifacts and tasks issued to participants. These probes serve the purpose of recording events, interactions, and emotions to aid the designer in understanding the thoughts, culture, and values of the people better (Sanders, 5-14).
The Strengths associated with the cultural probe method
The cultural probe has the advantage of capturing the actual unfiltered information and data on the ground. This data is collected using packages such as cameras, which record a participant’s environment in its natural form without intrusion into a participant’s life. In addition to this, cultural probes are more accurate as the participants are not under pressure to complete tasks such as postcards and diaries. The lack of pressure ensures that they do not feel the need to perform their daily tasks differently. The main strength of the method is that the packages and probe materials are tailored to fit the environment of the participants. The data collection process is also faster than using the ethnographic approach.