Creative Research with Object-Based Techniques

Have you ever felt stuck during an interview because your participants struggled to express themselves? While methods like interviews, surveys, and observations are popular in UX research for being cost-effective and offering valuable insights, they can sometimes yield only surface-level responses.

Many thoughts and emotions are hard to articulate and put into words. This is where object/props techniques comes handy — they serve as a useful supplement along with interviews and observations. Let’s dive deeper into this concept.

Beyond “Say and Do”

Methods that study what people Say, Do, and Make help access different levels of knowledge. (Sanders, Elizabeth et al., 2012)

While traditional methods like interviews and observations reveal what people say and do, they often fail to reach a deeper level of understanding. In their book Convivial Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front End of Design, Elizabeth Sanders and Pieter Jan Stappers explore how generative research can uncover these deeper levels of understanding.

Generative research involves participants in engaging activities to make something using objects or prompts such as images, words, or other tools, encouraging them to reflect and connect with their memories. This approach helps uncover ‘silent’ knowledge that is difficult to express (tacit) or hidden (latent). Why so? It can be explained in the Path of Expression, as shown below.

The Path of Expression

The diagram above illustrates how present experiences are connected to both past and future through memories and dreams. People express or become aware of something by:

(1) thinking in the present,

(2) reflecting on the past, and

(3) envisioning the future through dreams and fears, which shape their

(4) wishes, needs, and aspirations for the future.

Methods like interviews and observations typically focus on the present, offering insights into what people say and do. While generative research uses props or objects to help participants articulate their needs in smaller, more gradual steps. One of the key element in this process is Sensitizing — preparing participants before the session with self-documentation tasks that capture their thoughts, feelings, or ideas. The more immersed participants are in the topic, the easier it becomes for them to express themselves.

Applying Generative Research

Generative research is particularly helpful during the diverging phase (Refer to Double Diamond process), where the goal is to explore and gather as much rich data as possible. This technique helps uncover blind spots and sparks new ideas or questions that may not surface through more traditional methods.

Example of Collage Exercise

There are no strict rules or recipes for applying generative research; it depends entirely on the project’s conditions and needs. Elizabeth Goodman et al. (2012), in their book Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner’s Guide to User Research, highlight three commonly used methods:

1. Photo Ellicitation → Prompts deeper conversation between researchers and participants.
2. Collage and mapping → Encourages participants to externalize their internal thoughts and feelings.
3. Card sorting → Allows participants to group objects in ways that reveal how they make sense of things.

These object-based methods are flexible. We can “play” around them to the specific needs of our research, depending on the data we’re looking for.

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One of the example that I did before is creating a Storytelling Card Game. A bit of context, I was conducting research to understand what matters most to food delivery app drivers, focusing on how they react to certain barriers and incentives.

I prepared a game called Melas-melasan vs Seneng-senengan (Worst vs Happiest). In this game, we let participant choose 1 happiest story card and 1 saddest story card, then let them tell the story of those cases.

Storytelling Card Game — Melas-melasan vs Seneng-senengan

Here’s how I conducted the exercise:

1. Show the happy and sad story cards to the participant and let them familiarize themselves with the options. There was also a blank card they could fill in if needed.
2. Ask them to pick one story card and place it on top of the driver’s card.
3. Let them explain the story behind the chosen card.
4. Probe further by asking for comparisons or more details.
5. Repeat the process for the other card (happy/sad).

This exercise aimed to provoke participants to reflect on their dreams and fears, specifically in relation to the barriers and incentives in food delivery apps.

After completing previous exercise, I added an additional step called Mending-mendingan (Most Preferable). Here, I asked participants to pick one happy card and one sad card that they found most preferable.

Storytelling Card Game — Mending-mendingan

The insights gained from these activities were incredibly valuable. They not only challenged our initial hypotheses but also helped us reshape the direction of the research. For instance:

• Long waiting times, which we assumed to be a major pain point, turned out to be seen as bearable by drivers — they viewed it as just part of the job.
• and so on…

Concluding Thoughts

Generative research is a powerful method for uncovering rich, inspirational data. While it may require more time and effort to prepare compared to more conventional methods like interviews or observations, it can reveal blind spots and provide deeper insights. Moreover, it helps us grow as researchers, encouraging creativity and critical thinking along the way.