Contextmapping: experiences from practice

Abstract

In recent years, various methods and techniques have emerged for mapping the contexts of people's interaction with products. Designers and researchers use these techniques to gain deeper insight into the needs and dreams of prospective users of new products. As most of these techniques are still under development, there is a lack of practical knowledge about how such studies can be conducted. In this paper we share our insights, based on several projects from research and many years of industrial practice, of conducting user studies with generative techniques. The appendix contains a single case illustrating the application of these techniques in detail.

Keywords:

• contextmapping
• user experiences
• generative techniques
• design conceptualisation

Acknowledgements

We'd like to thank our students who were involved in the various projects, from which we are able to learn and constantly improve our model of contextmapping. Thanks to V. Visser and M. van Beusekom for sharing their information and the experiences of their graduation projects. We also like to thank the many students at TU Delft and The Ohio State University, and the practitioners who participated in the studies, especially those who also reacted to earlier drafts of the paper.

Notes

This case study was conducted for a manufacturer of consumer goods

research projects at the TU Delft include studies on: rituals of entrance, information flow in intensive care, sharing personal media, basic atmosphere controller, use of detergents, shaving products for men, workstation for radiologists, private patient room, luggage concept, kitchen for 2015, information device for tourists, high security admittance, packaging for sweet spreads, baggage system in cars, baby buggy, furniture in student rooms, physiotherapists' worktable, waiting, communication tool for elderly.

research projects in industry include topics on: families communicating, the knowledge worker, the home experience, home entertainment, remote controls, shopping online, shopping for pet food and supplies, working in alternative postures, paper towels, toilet paper, the museum experience, hospital patient rooms, working in small business, working in large business, working away from primary workspace, baby diapering, the middle school teacher's work, PC gaming, virtual PC, hotel for frequent travellers, CAPD (Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis), personal and family security, fun learning for children, the surgical suite, food preparation and consumption, moms and their babies, driving a car, and operating a military loader.