Walking probe
A Design Anthropology and a verbal probing technique, done as a walk along session with the participant while interviewing the participant about that location that is of significance to the participant.
“Walking probes involve visiting a location that has meaning to an informant and discussing the place and the built environment that the informant associates with the locale.”
Nature & context
Design Anthropology, User Research
Resources
Notes, recorder, camera, Questions to ask while walking, water/snack/comfortable clothing, conveyance to get to the participant’s preferred location.
Procedure
Before: Understand the context and identify participants and location of participant's choice to conduct the walking probe session. Arrange conveyance to get to the location. Curate a semi structured interview to maintain the research context during the session, however let the participant lead the conversation.
During: Record extensive notes giving attention to details, especially in relevance to the location (community)and their practices. Take ample photographs relevant to the context. Being a verbal probe, get the conversation moving and clarify questions regarding the locality with the participants, if any.
After: Quickly conduct an analysis, right after, of the notes, and pictures as well as other records generated like videos and voice notes and record/annotate your insights. Send out a thank you note to the participant.
Use Case
In the mid research phases of the waste management project, we used walking probe to understand the community level waste management technique with the help of local community members. In order to understand and correlate waste management in areas differing in social status, we did 2 walking probes with Cheryl and Carrie, with the former living in a high-income area while the latter living around a low-income area. Choosing two areas of different socioeconomic standards revealed stark differences between the community's waste management practices.
Sense Making Data
Focus needs to be on the location where the walking probe is conducted as well as the details shared by the participant during the session. Observation of the surrounding while walking along and interviewing gives a better idea of the location and culture. The exertion caused by walking could result in better thought process.