Chapter 4: Participatory Design Experiments – Gaining Context-Sensitive Insights
4.3 Stage 1: Participatory Design with Novice Users
4.3.3 Conducting the Participatory Design Method Session using 3D Toolkit
As outlined in the planning stage, the activity was carried out with two different kinds of model toolkits viz. abstract and concrete in four different combinations; 1) abstract- only, 2) concrete- only, 3) abstract-concrete and 4) concrete- abstract. Sixteen participants for four different sessions were invited. Each session had four participants.
Table 4.6 shows the detailed time plan and procedure.
Table 4.6: Participatory experiment time plan
TIME ACTION CHECK LIST
Different Venue
05 minutes Introduction Goals: You all are experts, Basic rules.
10 minutes Warm up Round of introduction, sharing of their sensitization.
05 minutes Explaining Problem ‘Gap between Two-wheeler and Cars’.
Actual Venue
05 minutes Instructions Demo. How it works. What each module means.
30-40 minutes Conducting Session Make and Tell in a group. Researcher records stuff.
As per the schedule, the participants reached the conference room where the set up was done. For introduction and sensitization part, they were requested to sit at a different space than that for the PD experiment. This ensured that they don’t start interacting with the toolkits before being introduced to the participatory design problem. After preliminary introductions of the participants and the researcher, they were informed that their participation required working in a group.
INTRODUCTION AND WARM UP
The duration of the warm up exercise was for 10 minutes.
As an icebreaker and as sensitizing tool, each participant was asked to talk about his or her daily commute from home to office and back. This way participants got to know about each other and were made comfortable. After this session the participants were taken to the next room for the participatory session.
EXPLAINING THE PROBLEM
User participants took seats around the table on which the toolkit was kept. After introducing the objectives briefly, the Researcher talked about the gap between two wheelers and cars in India. The problem was now stated to the participants - ‘How would you collectively as a group bridge the gap between two wheelers and cars in India’? They were shown all the elements of the toolkit. Explanations were given on how they could use the toolkit as an aid to discuss views and assist them in coming out with as many alternatives ideas as possible.
CONDUCTING SESSION
Duration of each session was around 50 minutes. Data recording began as video cameras started to roll and DSLR camera began capturing pictures during the entire session. This mode of the experiment was repeated for all the four experiments.
Researcher’s role was to start the sessions and then be an observer during the rest of the session. The memory cards etc. in cameras were periodically replaced by the researcher as and when it was needed.
In all the following four sessions were held:
• Participatory activity with Concrete toolkit
• Participatory activity with Abstract toolkit
• Participatory activity with Concrete - Abstract toolkit
• Participatory activity with Abstract - Concrete toolkit 4.3.3.2 Participatory Activity with Concrete toolkit
During this session the toolkit comprised of all the elements viz. wheels, chassis/ body, passenger and luggage as replicas of actual product elements. It has a transparent base frame with slots to place wheels. Various vehicle configurations like Two-Wheeler, Three-Wheeler, and Four-wheeler can be made by use of this toolkit.
A snap shot of participatory activity is shown in Figure 4.28. Full video in Appendix 5.
Figure 4.28: Participatory activity with concrete toolkit
Seating layout for the experiment, as shown in Figure 4.29, was kept keeping in mind the effective interaction with toolkit and effective framing for DSLR camera & video camera.
Figure 4.29: Seating schematics concrete
PROTOTYPING APPROACH
Intent of step-by-step prototyping is also explored in this process. The activity normally starts from the wheels, as wheels need to go into slots followed by body/ chassis, passengers etc.
It was noted that participants used key words in their conversation that were normally familiar and had precedence (Refer Transcript in Appendix 7A). These key words were names of vehicle brands, wheel configurations, features, type of vehicles etc. This form of toolkit helped elicit more concrete and definitive responses in its natural use.
4.3.3.3 Participatory Activity with Abstract Toolkit
During this session the toolkit comprised of all the elements viz. wheels, chassis/ body, passenger and luggage as abstract or indicative representations in their appearance. This allowed users to devise configurations of any form of vehicle. The blocks could magnetically join with the help of button magnets. Thus, users could quickly join and visualize combinations more at an abstract schematic level.
A snap shot of participatory activity is shown in Figure 4.30. Full video in Appendix 5.
Figure 4.30: Participatory activity with abstract toolkit
Seating layout for the experiment, as shown in Figure 4.31, was kept keeping in mind the effective interaction with toolkit and effective framing for DSLR camera & video camera.
Figure 4.31: Seating schematics abstract
APPROACH
In this instance, the commencement is not defined as the kit modules offer open ended possibilities and are not well defined. It was observed that this kind of toolkit allows users to choose their own start and also allows them to interpret results in their own way. Solutions that emerged were more systems oriented and very futuristic. Keywords that were used by the participants were not familiar and mostly had no precedent.
These keywords were about modularity, multilevel design, sleeper berths, touch-button controls etc. (Refer Transcript in Appendix 7B). This form of toolkit helps elicits more abstract responses in its natural use.
4.3.3.4 Participatory Activity with Concrete-Abstract Toolkit
In this session participants were given the option to mix elements drawing from the concrete toolkit and the abstract toolkit.
They could draw a mixed combination of elements such as base plate and elements of wheels and body from the concrete toolkit and elements such as passengers and luggage from the abstract toolkit. This mix when matched in combination resulted in vehicle ideas that emerged from the artificial world and the man world. These ideas were referred under the category ‘Concrete –Abstract’. It was noted that participants began
vehicle configurations by placing wheels in the slots followed by manipulation with abstract and concrete elements. A snap shot of participatory activity is shown in Figure 4.32. Full video in Appendix 5.
Figure 4.32: Participatory activity with concrete-abstract toolkit
Seating layout for the experiment, as shown in Figure 4.33, was kept keeping in mind the effective interaction with toolkit and effective framing for DSLR camera & video camera.
Figure 4.33: Seating schematics concrete-abstract
APPROACH
This approach was intended to regulate start and then allow participants free use of the abstract elements for the man world to help gain more insights.
The keywords that participants used during the session were familiar and the solution proposed focused towards current vehicle problems. The keywords used during their discussions were space efficiency, safety, storage space, vehicle footprint etc. (Refer Transcript in Appendix 7C). This hybrid form of toolkit helped elicit controlled abstraction in its natural use.
4.3.3.5 Participatory Activity with Abstract-Concrete toolkit
This formed a variation of the earlier session. In this session participants were again given the option to mix elements drawing from the concrete toolkit and the abstract toolkit – but the elements of the man world are concrete and elements of the artificial world are abstract. They could draw a mixed combination of elements such as concrete elements of passengers & luggage from the concrete toolkit and elements such as wheels
& chassis/ body from the abstract toolkit. These ideas were referred under the category
‘Abstract- Concrete ’. A snap shot of participatory activity is shown in Figure 4.34. Full video in Appendix 5.
Figure 4.34: Participatory activity with abstract-concrete toolkit
Seating layout for the experiment, as shown in Figure 4.33, was kept keeping in mind the effective interaction with toolkit and effective framing for DSLR camera & video camera.
Figure 4.35: Seating schematics abstract-concrete
APPROACH
This approach was intended to allow participants to freely choose any starting point and then control it with concrete elements. The keywords emphasized during the discussions were on passengers; issues surrounding comfort & safety; accidents;
personal mobility; etc. (Refer Transcript in Appendix 7D).
It was noted that the use of the toolkit in such a combination yielded more free-flow of creative ideas that were also practical in nature.
4.3.3.6 Observational Remarks for All Sessions
The researcher as observer noted that during the experiment there were moments when all participants were talking and deliberating while prototyping with the toolkit.
Although there were also moments when there was a lull, the participants were seen to be actively co-developing concepts. Even when there was calmness with no verbal communication between participants they were connected through the toolkit. The toolkit mediated participatory session, pushing participants to think beyond their boundaries. Towards the end of the session, they were exhausted. No conflicts were observed.
The researcher thanked each participant at the end of each experiment.