Sensory ethnography & bodystorming

Rachel [email protected]

Working with

sensory ethnography and

bodystormingin interaction design

Session Overview

Overview of approaches

Share insights taken from examples of practice

Apply insights to case study

Session Overview

10.00am – 10.40am Sensory Ethnography

& Bodystorming

Presentation

10.40am – 11.20am Group Work

Case Study

11.20am – 12.00pm Group Feedback Discussion

Group ideas …

• Piece of writing

• Body mapping

• How is it different to regular ethnography?

• Immersed in experience / culture / scenario

• Not thinking about yourself but thinking about your senses

• Self-ethnography

What do you already know about sensory ethnography?

What do you already know about bodystorming?

Group ideas …

• Like brainstorming but using the body

• Doing your design where the thing you’re designing for is going to be used

• Getting ideas about how your body responds to place and a particular idea

Pink

‘A sensory ethnography methodology aspires to […][explore] the sensory embodied experience and ways of knowing of both the researcher and research participants as they collaborate to bring [practices] into focus’ [p. 5]

Pink, S., Mackley, K.L., Mitchell, V., Hanratty, M., Escobar-Tello, C., Bhamra, T., Morosanu, R. Applying the Lens of Sensory Ethnography to Sustainable HCI. TOCHI, 20 (4) 25 (2013)

Schleicher, Jones & Kachur

‘The goal of embodied storming is not just the instrumental formulation of better experience ideas in the context of their use, but we also aim to enact a tangible understanding of the entanglements and actions of human activity in possible future situations.’ [p. 47]

Schleicher, D., Jones, P. & Kachur, O. Bodystorming as Embodied Designing. Interactions 17 (6) (2010) 47-51

Making sense through the body

place practices movement

embodimentconnections materials messiness

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Part of a sensory ethnography

Part of a sensory ethnography

Photographs and field notes of …

tours of the buildings by members of staff on how they currently used and hoped to use space

my own journey to and from university to the centre

observations on how spaces were used for workshops

my own participation in workshops, social events, attending meetings and waiting

observations of technology use by staff, clients and volunteers

Learning from the process

relevance of place

technology as part of sensory environment, materials, acoustics, textures, food, smells

attentive to details, both in focus and on the periphery

contrast of performed ‘tours’, informal observation and own experience

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An approach to bodystorming

Shared photos in design team

Ideation & Discussion

Opportunities for negotiating privacy

Bodystorming using paper props

Would these ideas work in new centre?

Learning from the process

• Preparation of materials and space needed

• Explore physical connections

• Many small steps and discussions needed within design team

• Documentation and communication was a challenge

Case Study

We are currently exploring the potential of music and sound based intergenerational digital sharing in public spaces. The purpose is to develop inspiration for experimental digital platforms to connect people within cities. We’d like to initially consider a number of local cafés as potential places for this approach.

2 groups – sensory ethnography

3 groups – bodystorming

When you come back …

In your groups spend 5 minutes consolidating your experience.

Think about theopportunities and challenges of

the approach you just used

Feedback / Discussion

Sensory ethnography can be useful because …

• Can highlight personal connections people have with place

• Encourages people to wander at their own pace

• Opens up exploratory lines of inquiry• Audio-visual documentation helps recollection

and acts as reminders • Requires rapport, responsivness, reflexive and

sometimes intimate engagement with people and place


Sensory ethnography can be challenging because …

• Lots of senses to think about• Documentation (photography, note-taking,

video) can feel intrusive• Can feel fake for participant if too guided by

ethnographer• Easier to do ordinary ethnography• If design brief is too closed, focusing on a

particular sense (such as sound) can be too restrictive in closing down exploration


Bodystorming can be useful because …

• Helps to work out technically how things might work in situ

• Helps to work through ideas without investing lots of time on development

• Creates quick feedback loops on ideas• Practical enactment on how people

might use a service / technology


Bodystorming can be challenging because …

• Can be difficult to find ways to get started• Difficult if not confident in acting / role play• Requires imaginative leaps and improvisation

which might need practice • Could be difficult to encourage partners /

participants to get involved• Documentation to communicate to partners is

difficult to do if engaged in trying things out• If actual place not available, can be difficult to

recreate right atmosphere• Focus on what is currently in place

Sensory ethnography & bodystorming

Design

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