Design and research practitioners have applied probes in their design processes to find new ways of understanding user experience, allowing them to obtain a better understanding of their users and to inspire their designs. Usually in design practice and research, project leaders and managers expect an ultimate solution emerging as a result of probing. However, in most cases such a direct connection is not evident as probes inform and influence the design process in many different ways. We provide illustrative examples of these ways based on a study related to bathroom use for a lighting system. We present a generalization of our findings on how probes can help inform other design processes.
To make technology research more effective and to deal with fierce cost competition, technology research should be more focused on radical innovation and needs to adopt a more end-user-focused approach. Product improvement is already quite often building on knowledge collected around consumers' experiences with these products to come with a next, improved generation of products. However, in case of creating novel products from "scratch," this will be more difficult. The user-centered research approach including insights, scenarios, and experience prototypes provides a good method to incorporate the consumer perspective in the earliest stages of the product creation process. The development of the Ambilight TV will be used as a case to illustrate this approach.
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