Technology probes: inspiring design for and with families
Abstract
We describe a new method for use in the process of co-designing technologies with users called technology probes. Technology probes are simple, flexible, adaptable technologies with three interdisciplinary goals: the social science goal of understanding the needs and desires of users in a real-world setting, the engineering goal of field-testing the technology, and the design goal of inspiring users and researchers to think about new technologies. We present the results of designing and deploying two technology probes, the messageProbe and the videoProbe, with diverse families in France, Sweden, and the U.S. We conclude with our plans for creating new technologies for and with families based on our experiences.
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A design-probe approach lets researchers observe how interface choices, not only model accuracy, shape collaborative performance and user agency.
“This design-probe approach, having each participant evaluate and comment on contrasting interaction paradigms instead of a single model, lets us observe how interface choices, not only model accuracy, shape collaborative performance and user agency (Hutchinson et al. 2003).”
From From Oracles to Productive Friction: Designing for Meaningful Human Oversight in Clinical AI (2026) · cites this paper as Hutchinson et al. 2003
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- Authors
- Hutchinson, H., Mackay, W., Westerlund, B., Bederson, B. B., Druin, A., Plaisant, C., Beaudouin-Lafon, M., Conversy, S., Evans, H., Hansen, H., Roussel, N., & Eiderbäck, B.
- Affiliations
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique (FR)
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology (SE)
- HCIL, UMIACS, CS/University of Maryland, College Park, MD
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2003-04-05
- Pages
- 17-24
- OpenAlex
- W2150634379
- Cited by
- 1,471
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 87 · 2025: 131 · 2024: 87 · 2023: 66 · 2022: 77 · 2021: 58 · 2020: 86 · 2019: 72 · 2018: 81 · 2017: 55 · 2016: 65 · 2015: 57 · 2014: 61 · 2013: 52 · 2012: 59
- FWCI
- 28.94
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Keywords
- technology probe, co-design, user needs, field testing, family, user-centered design
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