RESEARCH METHOD

64 Photo Studies

Photo studies invite the participant to photo-document aspects of his or her life and interactions, providing the designer with visual, self-reported insights into user behaviors and priorities.

Photo studies are an ideal way to have participants highlight details of their personal lives directly, providing visual samples of the important things in their world to inform and inspire design. Photo studies are common in exploratory research as a method for understanding the world of users, particularly when engaging in territory unfamiliar to the designer.

To initiate a photo study, participants are provided with a camera, or instructed how their own cameras are to be used for the purposes of the research. Participants are given general instructions on what to document through images, for example, to take pictures of each technology interaction during the day, or objects of significance, or items associated with scheduling appointments and meetings. They may also be instructed to take images of their surroundings when they are feeling a particular way (energized, sad, overwhelmed), or, in rare circumstances, of human interactions. When documenting human interactions, caution needs to be exercised in requesting photos of uncomfortable situations such as work encounters, or photographing the personal details of others.

Photo studies are most often used as a complementary component of other methods. For example, diary studies may include a photographic requirement, whereby pictures are taken by participants to supplement journal entries about behaviors or encounters during a specified time period. Diaries or journals may in turn be a significant part of the experience sampling method.

Like many creative methods, participants are more likely to enthusiastically engage in requests to complete a photo study of their personal lives than they are to traditional means of behavior survey. Furthermore, photo studies provide visual collateral for designers to work with, and particularly when contextualized with journals or other written material, can lead to unique discoveries about users, their behaviors, and priorities.

To synthesize findings from photo studies, the designer may rely solely on the photographs and simple notes provided by the participant. However, it is more common, and recommended, to have the participant explain his or her photos in follow-up interviews, possibly to include sorting or collage of the images or detailing them along a time line or other axis, such as positive–negative interactions. Because the output of photo studies is primarily used for exploratory purposes, the research is summarized as visual support for understanding and inspiration, not for specific meaning through formal analysis. However, patterns and themes might emerge across an inventory of several photos from multiple participants, providing insight for design implications.

Collected photos from a crowdsourced photo study on energy use reveal a diverse range of interpretations on the subject matter for design consideration.

Courtesy of frog, frogmob.frogdesign.com