Engaging with Context IRL:

The Personal Kitchen

Leveraging our own space as research site, we level-up and engage with complexity, contexts, and dimensions in real life. The ability to access, observe, and interact with a safe space, and its relational materiality in a low-stakes situation helps build familiarity and confidence in engaging with field research methods.

What the participants takeaway

1.

2.

The spaces surrounding you are teeming with potential for material study, and can be great places to build ones field research skills that do not require access to end-users or stakeholders.

By reflecting on one's observations and documenting them to share with others, participants start to become conscious of the impact of their choices and perspectives on research outcomes.

3.

Choices around labelling, framing, categorizing, and editing information, has the potential to reveal more than mere materiality. It illuminates an array of relational and contextual information that can be used to shape a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.

Skills Used

  1. Observation

  2. Description

  3. Discovery

  4. Documentation

  5. Communication

  6. Critique

  7. Making & Reflection

  8. Analysis

Aditya Singh - "C17: Foundations" (2022)

Digital work created on Miro, Agency Program, Centre for Complexity in collaboration with Wongdoody-Infosys

Let’s take a look at how we explore a few of these skills

Observation

Here are two examples of observations done at a micro and macro level. The close up of the fridge reveals personal choices of the residents. An observation of layout and movement reveals the larger use of the entire area by the observer. Both approaches reveal particular properties of the space(field), objects, and context.

Description

When observing relational or temporal dimensions of a space, analogies and metaphors help describe and capture insightful qualitative elements that might be overlooked or discarded if one would adhere to obvious quantitative metrics alone.

Discovery

After observing and documenting their personal kitchen, participants were able to discover hidden and overlooked characteristics of objects and their relationship to the space. They did this by asking questions, making marks, and sharing their interpretation of the documentation with others.

The Business Value of Design Methods and Skills

Observation

The ability to observe the world, notice opportunities and patterns in a system can lead to a competitive edge, Improved systems understanding beyond user behavior and needs, leading to more holistic user experiences, increased customer satisfaction, and higher conversion rates.

Description

Clear and concise communication of information, leading to better understanding and decision-making.

Discovery

Identification of new opportunities, market insights, and customer needs, leading to increased revenue and competitive advantage.

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