During my graduate work, I enrolled in a Research Design course as most graduate students do. During this course we explored several different research methods, and were tasked with running small scale projects to understand the basics of each method. We were encouraged to explore various spaces on campus, and really consider how to view these spaces in unique ways.
Our first assignment was to employ a cultural probe in the Georgia Tech Library. We were prompted by several readings including Bill Gaver's writing on Cultural Probes and Kevin Lynch's "The Image of the City". The classmate I worked with and I, decided to focus on mental health, and how a particular space in the library impacted mental health. We conducted the cultural probe on a Friday afternoon using a large whiteboard, sticky notes, and a "Smiley Face Gradient" (see fig 1 for examples).
Our first assignment was to employ a cultural probe in the Georgia Tech Library. We were prompted by several readings including Bill Gaver's writing on Cultural Probes and Kevin Lynch's "The Image of the City". The classmate I worked with and I, decided to focus on mental health, and how a particular space in the library impacted mental health. We conducted the cultural probe on a Friday afternoon using a large whiteboard, sticky notes, and a "Smiley Face Gradient" (see fig 1 for examples).
Overview
Both myself and my partner attended Georgia Tech and studied in the College of Computing (CoC) during out undergrad. We chose to focus on CoC undergrads in order scope our participants, and avoid skewing data to negative moods, as we were aware several large undergraduate engineering courses had just finished midterm exams and had major project deadlines.
During this cultural probe, we stayed on the Grove level of Price Gilbert Memorial Library at Georgia Tech, and divided the floor into several zones. One zone was outdoors, and we wanted to see if there was any correlation between being outdoors and a positive mood, we classified this area as the patio. While indoors we split the room roughly in half classifying one area as "Under the Lights" as there are distinctive chandeliers, and the other as "Coffee Shop" as it serves as seating for Blue Donkey Coffee (see fig 2 for a layout sketch).
During this cultural probe, we stayed on the Grove level of Price Gilbert Memorial Library at Georgia Tech, and divided the floor into several zones. One zone was outdoors, and we wanted to see if there was any correlation between being outdoors and a positive mood, we classified this area as the patio. While indoors we split the room roughly in half classifying one area as "Under the Lights" as there are distinctive chandeliers, and the other as "Coffee Shop" as it serves as seating for Blue Donkey Coffee (see fig 2 for a layout sketch).
Fig 1. Smiley face gradient on moveable whiteboard
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Fig 2. Library layout with zones
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We wanted to provide students with as few instructions as possible to create room for a range of interpretations. We discussed asking the students to “write how they feel”, “draw how they feel”, “share a quote”, and various other prompts for students to write on a sticky note. Ultimately, we decided to simply ask them to “tell us how they’re feeling,” while handing them a sticky note and marker. We wanted to keep as many possibilities open for the students. In some cases, this did create some anxiety. For some students, we had to reassure them that there was no wrong answer. Others took to it immediately.
We approached students in Price Gilbert and asked if they were College of Computing (CoC) students. If they said yes, we introduced ourselves, explained we were conducting research on student emotional well-being, and handed them a sticky note and a pen. Please refer to the Method section for more detailed information.
We approached students in Price Gilbert and asked if they were College of Computing (CoC) students. If they said yes, we introduced ourselves, explained we were conducting research on student emotional well-being, and handed them a sticky note and a pen. Please refer to the Method section for more detailed information.
Method
- First we needed to lay the groundwork for running the experiment.
- Materials used:
- Sticky Notes
- Markers
- Whiteboard
Under The Lights - This space expands from the beginning of the carpeted area where the twinkling lights are hanging. It extends all the way to the infographic on the back wall (fig 3).
Coffee Shop - This space includes the seating for the coffee shop, Blue Donkey. Also referred to as the “Sideways Cafe” (fig 4).
Patio - This space is attached to the side of the “Under the Lights” area. It’s a semi-outdoor space, with running fans and large, comfortable patio furniture. It is usually accompanied with a nice breeze. The Patio is only open from 7am - 7pm, unlike the other two areas which are open 24-hours to Georgia Tech students (fig 5).
Fig 3. Under the Lights
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Fig 4. Coffee Shop
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Fig 5. Patio
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Conducting the Probe
- Galen and I would approach a group, and ask if the student(s) were undergraduates in the College of Computing
- If yes:
- We would follow up and ask them to tell us how they were feeling that day. While handing them a marker and sticky notes. (We did not provide further instruction outside of this because we didn’t want to constrain the responses we received).
- Thank them for their time and move to the next group
- If no:
- Thank the student for their time and move to the next group
- It took a few times of approaching different groups before we got into the groove of things. The following are the repeatable steps.
- Approach a group of students with our whiteboard and materials in tow.
- Ask if student(s) are undergrads in CoC
- If yes:
- Introduce ourselves and what we are doing
- Ask them to share with us how they are feeling (while handing over a sticky note and marker
- Let them place the sticky note on the board, wherever the felt was most accurate
- If no:
- Thank student(s) for their time
- Repeat steps 1-4 for each of the three areas
- If yes:
Fig 6. After running the process in each area the board would look something like this
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Fig 7. In between subspaces, Galen and I organized sticky notes per area. We marked the notes 1-5 to capture the emotional state of the student who placed the note.
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Results
Raw data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16Q_7wgqzED0rDWbLQvFjsOBe3TSU1yVSCLoLsRQ6Sb4/edit?usp=sharing
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Discussion
It should be noted that the time of this experiment no doubt affected the results of the probe (Friday afternoon). The majority of the results were “happy”/elevated mood states which may have been the result of it being Friday and nothing else. And even though we don’t quite have enough data points, it was interesting to observe that there were no “sad”/depressed moods on the Patio space (which mimics being outside, but more comfortable).
It was surprising how many students asked what they should do, when prompted with the question – how do you feel? I believe there is a lot to dig into with that response that is not captured in this cultural probe.
Another interesting fact is that we only got 3 pieces of data (out of 29) that we’re not literal descriptions. Two hand-drawn emojis (Fig 8 and 9) and a Shakespearean quote – “Life is but a walking shadow.” (Fig 10)
It was surprising how many students asked what they should do, when prompted with the question – how do you feel? I believe there is a lot to dig into with that response that is not captured in this cultural probe.
Another interesting fact is that we only got 3 pieces of data (out of 29) that we’re not literal descriptions. Two hand-drawn emojis (Fig 8 and 9) and a Shakespearean quote – “Life is but a walking shadow.” (Fig 10)
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Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player |
If we were to redesign the cultural probe, it would be interesting to play with different methods of obtaining the same data. For instance, having individuals post smile face gradient stickers on a large poster, over the course of a week. Or having students write down how they are feeling on a larger form factor (i.e. an index card) and having them drop it into a comment box. Perhaps having the data visible on the board for all to see changed the type of results we got or the fact that space was limited to the sticky note.
If Galen and I were to run the experiment again, we would likely do some test runs on another student group to get the hang of our lines, delivery, and overall approach.
In a re-design of this probe, we would be able to collect data from roughly 25-30 CoC students at all hours of the day and every day of the week for multiple weeks. This would involve finding participants, and having those participants journal daily about how they are feeling and then to come and meet us in the bottom of Crossland Tower to engage in the smiley face gradient again. The probe would need to run for at least 3 months with 2-3 weeks in between each meeting with Greyson and myself. This would give us a more accurate representation on the student's emotional baseline and observe how it changes (or doesn’t change) in the space in Price Gilbert Memorial Library. We can also better account for individual days of the week and average out workload (i.e weeks with exams would most likely be more stressful than those without).
If Galen and I were to run the experiment again, we would likely do some test runs on another student group to get the hang of our lines, delivery, and overall approach.
In a re-design of this probe, we would be able to collect data from roughly 25-30 CoC students at all hours of the day and every day of the week for multiple weeks. This would involve finding participants, and having those participants journal daily about how they are feeling and then to come and meet us in the bottom of Crossland Tower to engage in the smiley face gradient again. The probe would need to run for at least 3 months with 2-3 weeks in between each meeting with Greyson and myself. This would give us a more accurate representation on the student's emotional baseline and observe how it changes (or doesn’t change) in the space in Price Gilbert Memorial Library. We can also better account for individual days of the week and average out workload (i.e weeks with exams would most likely be more stressful than those without).
Future Works
In addition to the changes mentioned above, we would absolutely need more data in order to answer the question. It would also be prudent to deploy other means of measuring stress/emotional resiliency other than the smiley face gradient. For instance, having students solve puzzles each time we would meet in person (every 2-3 weeks). We could then time the student’s in how long it took them to solve the puzzle or how quickly the student gave up on the puzzle. Students who are more stressed are more likely to quit on the puzzle sooner than those who are less stressed.
It would also be prudent to track those students in other spaces on campus so we can say confidently that the effect of the bottom of Crossland Tower is unique to that space.
Finally, we would need more data, and more data points to make any substantive claims. At present, we don’t even have enough data points to establish an individual student’s baseline. Perhaps we would run a more comprehensive survey of our participant students at the beginning of the study to understand where their baseline emotional state normally resides.
It would also be prudent to track those students in other spaces on campus so we can say confidently that the effect of the bottom of Crossland Tower is unique to that space.
Finally, we would need more data, and more data points to make any substantive claims. At present, we don’t even have enough data points to establish an individual student’s baseline. Perhaps we would run a more comprehensive survey of our participant students at the beginning of the study to understand where their baseline emotional state normally resides.