RESEARCH METHOD

07 Bodystorming

Bodystorming situates brainstorming in physical experience, combining role-playing and simulation to inspire new ideas and empathic, spontaneous prototyping.¹

Bodystorming is physical brainstorming—dynamic, experiential, and generative—situated in methods of informance, or informative performance, combining active role-play with simple prototypes.² Through bodystorming, designers immerse themselves in user situations through loosely configured or simulated contexts, moving through space and situations while paying close attention to decisions, interactive experiences, and emotional responses.³ The method may be contained within design teams, but can also engage a wider audience of peers or clients, inviting response and dialogue.

Whereas the primary function of traditional role-playing is to gain an empathic sense of users by acting their part, bodystorming encourages active design ideation, concept generation, and even testing of ideas in parallel. During the bodystorm, in addition to props simulating typical products and environmental features that already exist, concept ideas can be integrated and tested in play, and the active situation can inspire the spontaneous creation of additional new product and service concepts. If well executed, bodystorming captures a realistic scenario of use through immersive acting in a simulated context, and the process is seamlessly empathic.

Prototypes or “props” used in bodystorming need not be sophisticated constructions; for example, cardboard or foam core can be used to enclose space; simple boxes or existing furniture can represent fixtures, landmarks, or obstacles; chairs can be airline or car seats; tables become stretchers or beds; and lighting conditions can be manipulated as appropriate. Likewise, while scenarios may be partially scripted from observations using storyboards, the bodystorm is largely spontaneous and encourages improvisation to capture real-world experiences.

1. The Bodystorming method is credited to Interval Research. See:

Burns, Colin, Eric Dishman, William Verplank, and Bud Lassiter. “Actors, Hairdos & Videotape—Informance Design: Using Performance Techniques in Multidisciplinary, Observation-based Design.” CHI 94 Conference Companion, 1994: 119–120.

The authors define bodystorming as “repping (reenacting everyday peoples’ performances)—for living with that data in embodied ways.” See: www.baychi.org/calendar/19950808.

2. See note 1 above.

3. http://dschool.stanford.edu/groups/k12/wiki/48c54/Bodystorming.html

Further Reading

Oulasvirta, A., E. Kurvinen, and T. Kanjaunen. “Understanding Contexts by Being There: Case Studies in Bodystorming.” Personal Ubiquitous Computing 7, no. 2 (2003): 125–134.

For a discussion of variations on the method, see:

Schleicher, Dennis, Peter Jones, and Oksana Kachur. “Bodystorming as Embodied Designing.” Interactions, November/December 2010: 47–51.

Designers bodystorming a contained sound system, with personal bubbles of sound space controlled by mobile devices. Two designers bodystorm the sound bubble; while another “awakens” to music, her “roommate” continues to sleep, undisturbed by the sound.