Inspiring design: the use of photo elicitation and lomography in gaining the child’s perspective

1. Inspiring design: the use of photo elicitation and lomography in gaining the child’s perspective Lynne Hall, Susan Jones, Marc Hall, Joanne Richardson & John Hodgson

2. Overview • Designing with children in eCIRCUS • Photography as design input • Lomography and photo elicitation • Design Context: Water Safety • Gaining inspiration – our experience

3. Designing with children in eCIRCUS • eCIRCUS: FP6 project – technology enhanced personal, social and emotional learning • Aims to • provide a classroom-based, curriculum-focused participatory design approach • Increase and improve involvement of primary users and stakeholders

4. eCIRCUS approach • Participatory, child-centred, aims to reflect children’s interests and activities • Range of methods and techniques • Child as informant • Aims to reflect adult-child dynamic in classroom context • Takes into account curricular needs of teachers and pupils • Small group activities (best practice key stage 2 and 3) • Covers aspects of national curriculum

5. Photography • Powerful medium for documenting human experience • Used to mark key events and remember the past • Can generate concepts and ideas with visual methods increasingly gaining attention • Photography offers potential for analysis and dialogue stimulation • Photographic content can be fed into design process • Use of photography matches increasing visual (digital) communication approach • Successfully used in cultural probes and diary methods

6. Using photography for design input • Typically structured experience with photos required of specific artefacts or events • Our approach • More in common with “probing” • Flexible • Child chooses what to record and present • Lomography

7. Method

8. Using photography to support design with children • Children keen to use personal technology • Cameras high availability and increasing sites and software aimed at supporting children’s sharing of photos • Provide a focal point rather than child themselves • Photographer has guaranteed knowledge about the photo • Helps children to express themselves and offer information

9. Lomography • Photography technique developed as a response to over arty and stylistic photographic approaches • Name and initial approach based on a small Russian camera • Multiple frames of same photo • Flexible, quick, unstructured photography • Nearly lost, but rediscovered by a group of students • Now very popular approach to photography

10. “Doing” Lomography • Meant to be fun • Freedom - photo anything you want, anytime, anywhere • Aims to capture everyday experience • Personal and free form of photography • Ideally suited to the digital age • Camera is always there and aims to enhance the user experience

11. Photo Elicitation • Lomography used as basis for photo elicitation • Using photos as talking points stimulates discussion, memories and ideas (e.g. autodriving, photo voice) • Limited use but has been successful for stimulating dialogue with adults and children

12. Design Context • 11-13 year olds • Enhance “Water Safety Roadshow” held in Sunderland schools • Web-based application • Serious issue - one of most common causes of death for age group • Children NOT aware of intended design context • No structure / focus pre-provided for photos

13. Approach • Ten 11-12 year olds • Disposable cameras provided for one school week • Group based discussion, categorisation and annotation of photos • Occurred in the classroom but after school

14. Results: main images • Technology, phones, computers • Animals and pets • Outdoor scenery, areas and activities • People – friends, family

15. Lomo examples

16. Results: categorisation and discussion • Children engaged with process • Readily discussed own and other’s photo contents • Collaborative activity with turn taking and happy dialogue • Considerable agreement about allocation of photos to categories and in annotation • Provision of emotional and personal information about photos

17. Results and design context • Children unaware of intended context BUT • Significant number of images with water (beach, fountains, pools, fish ponds, etc.) • Water images positively described • Children strong fascination with water and play near it

18. Water movement Waves which splash Water rippling in fountains / ponds Local landmarks and scenery Fish in water Fun and engaging aspects of water Design Inspiration from photos

19. Lomo used in design

20. Design Inspiration

21. Using lomography and photo elicitation with children • Care-free style retains fun and excitement of taking photos • Photos ideal vehicles for discussion • Small group, class-based activity that is fun and enjoyable for all • Links well to National Curriculum (Art & Design, ICT, Literacy, etc.) • Unplanned nature still produced valuable information • We had forgotten the fascination that water holds for children, but on reflection can all remember!

22. Summary • Lomography combined with photo elicitation and categorisation effective for gaining useful data from children • Fun, interesting and stimulating • Can be used in the classroom and links to curriculum • Valuable and effective input for designing with children