This is the result of a cultural probe I completed for a class. We were studying how loss affects a particular user. By using the cultural probe method, we were able to learn about how he viewed the recent losses of his wife, truck, boat and dog.

1. Looking
Forward
Cultural Probe
User Design Methods
Assignment 8
Jordan Hayes, Andy
Hunsucker, Pui Mo

2. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 2
Research Objectives
• Identify at what stage of loss a subject is
at.
• Explore how loss affects one’s identity.
• Explore how people cope with loss.
• How effective are a probe’s triggers in
acting as a ticket to talk about divorce.
Target User Group
• People who have experienced loss
through a divorce

3. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 3
Name: Jim Berry
Age: 48
Demographics: Single White
Male, Recently Divorced,Two
Kids
Losses:Wife, New Dodge
Truck, Bass Boat, Dog,Time
with Kids, Money
Subject

4. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 4
Overview of Probe
Process:We designed the probe packet on March 16th, and gave
the packet to our subject on March 17th. He had five days to interact
with the packet, and we interviewed him on March 22rd at his place.

5. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 5
Probe Content
Four themes: truck, boat, dog, marriage(wedding).
Our package was housed inside a small pet carrier.We included workbooks for each theme,
with specific activities for each one.The truck booklet cover was an image of the subjects
personal truck that we were able to obtain from facebook, the boat workbook cover was
an image of the boat that he had to sell to pay for his divorce.The dog workbook had dog
paw prints on the cover.The wedding workbook was built out of a congratulatory card with
sentimental slogans.We replaced the sentimental slogan with a facebook update our subject
posted after his divorce was finalized:
“Hocus Pocus……...The Bitch disappeared. I am a magician after all!
Time for some throwback partying! …….40s poppin!”
We also included several objects that were meant to act as triggers for memories:
Toy Truck; Dog Collar; Rose; A celebratory image he posted on
facebook after his divorce was finalized.
That group of objects we placed behind a plastic sheet, so that he could see them, but not
touch them.
We also included a small model dog, a package of modeling clay, a set of paper characters,
and a set of markers to complete activities.The dog sat at the front of the pet carrier as if
looking at at the observer. Finally, we placed a blank notebook inside for him to add more
thoughts through the week.

6. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 6
Probe Content
Model dog
Celebratory
image

7. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 7
Probe Content
Blank Journal
Marriage
Workbook
Dog workbook
Boat workbook

8. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 8
Probe Content
Paper Cutouts Model clay
Truck workbook

9. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 9
Probe Content
Model Truck
Dog Collar
Rose
A view of how
some items
were placed at
the back of the
package.These
were separated
by a plastic sheet,
the intention
being that the
subject would
see these trigger
items, but not
touch them.

10. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 10
Probe Content
An image of the completed probe before delivering it to the subject.The dog is centered at the front of
the package, while the workbooks are stacked behind. Notice the clear plastic sheet separating objects
in the rear.

11. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 11
Worn Objects
Our probe contained a few worn objects: a picture of subject’s boat
which was crumpled (the image features the back of the boat and
highlights the words “Dads Dream”); a dog collar that we frayed; a
crushed toy truck in the shape of a Ford F-250; and a real rose cut
and glued next to an image of the subject drinking and smoking a
cigar in front of his Dodge Charger (after he divorced).The objects
are placed behind a plastic sheet, so that he could see them, but not
touch them.
Boat:
The subject used his boat to compete in Bass Fishing Tournaments. All the equipment on
the boat was high-end and a lot of time and effort has been spent in attempting to gain
sponsorships to become a Professional Bass Fisherman.We wanted to understand how our
subject views losing his dream of becoming a Professional Bass Fisherman.The image is
used as a metaphor of his dreams crumbling away.
Dog Collar
Our subject lost his dog during the divorce and we wanted to use a worn dog collar to
remind the subject of putting on and taking the collar off his dog. By holding the collar and
not having a dog to put it on, we wanted to trigger the sensation of loss.

12. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 12
Worn ObjectsCrushed Toy Truck
Through the divorce, our
subject had to sell his new
Dodge Truck. Our subject
traded in his Ford F-250 for
the Dodge and we used
a crushed Ford truck as a
way to remind the subject
of losing his truck.
Rose
We assumed our subject
lost all of these things
through the divorce, so
the divorce is the key to
his loss. Deep in the pet
carrier we put a fresh rose.
As days go by the flower
will decay.We were hoping
to invoke the metaphor of
the withered romance, and
we hoped it would remind
him of how his marriage
went wrong, and reflect on
how he couldn’t save it.
Broken
Truck
Frayed dog
collar
Live rose
(deteriorates over time)

13. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 13
Reactions
We received the package on Saturday, March 22nd. Most of the
activities were completed in detail.
Marriage
The subject used this activity to talk about his marriage and how it ended. He spoke in detail
about how they slowly grew apart. He talked about how they had spent many years focusing
on the children, and how when they grew older, his wife hadn’t developed any hobbies of
her own. From his perspective, his wife grew resentful of all of the time he spent away from
the home exploring his own hobbies. He also spoke about his own value system and how
that affected his perception of the marriage.
He included a lot of details about his bitterness over the fact that his wife used the legal
system “to get everything she could from me”. At the end of the book, he cut out the photo
we included of him with a cigar and beer and pasted it in.
He also changed the sentimental slogan at the end. It originally read:
“Wishing you a lifetime of happy tomorrows”.
His new version read:
“Wishing you a lifetime of the same crap you put me through.”
There are four workbooks in the package, and the wedding card was put below everything,
but he completed the wedding card first. He wrote in the journal that he wanted to address
this first because it was the easiest one for him.

14. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 14
Reactions
In the interview he spoke a lot about how he was looking forward and didn’t want to look
back at the past. He said that he had come to a place of acceptance about the end of the
marriage long ago, but he admitted that he still had some bitterness about the way he had
been treated.
Truck
We asked the subject to use a manufacturer’s website to build his dream truck. He wrote the
following in the workbook:
“There is really no need to visit a website to build my truck. I
just sent the truck I always wanted back to the bank when I got
divorced”.
He replaced this truck with a muscle car. He explained his rationale in the workbook and
interview that he knew his credit was going to be bad soon making it difficult to purchase a
new vehicle. So he bought the muscle car before he lost his truck for two reasons:
“One it really pissed my ex-wife off, and two, I now have the car I
always wanted.”
He also noted that he is not attached to material things and that every year newer and more
exciting trucks are being made.
He mentioned that everything he lost will finally being replaced by other things, but in his
mind family is the only thing that can’t be placed.

15. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 15
Reactions
In the journal we asked him to keep, he noted that he saw the value of the truck as a useful
tool. He said affirmatively that after going through the exercise he’s sure he will replace the
truck eventually.
Boat
We asked our subject to take model clay and create his dream boat. Our subject ended up
creating a Canoe.
“I miss the days of Canoeing down river with my friends. It was
simple but fun. I feel I would like to get the fun back.”
“I realized after a while that big and fancy is not always better.”
After speaking with our subject about the Canoe, it seems as if he does not want to bring
back complexity, but rather fun. Our subject mentioned that
“I’m trying to look forward, not backward”
when asked about losing his boat. Our subject talked about how he used to fish with his
friends and family during his canoe trips, making references to fun and slimplicity, and we
assume that he wants to bring back into his life a period where he felt most happy.Though
our subject wants to move forward instead of backwards, by bringing elements or a period
of time back into his life, he is actually trying to relive the past.This may suggest he is having
difficulty moving forward. It also may suggest that our subject has felt that family, friendship,
and fun have been missing for a long time.

16. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 16
Reactions
During the interview, he mentioned how the boat brought up a fight between him and his
ex-wife. Going fishing and the boat are part of his identity, and it will never stop. However,
he felt he never got support from his wife. He tried to involve his wife in this activity but she
excluded herself. He commented on her saying all her focus was on the children and as they
all left home and went to college, she didn’t have any hobbies.
Dog
We asked the subject to use markers to color in a model of a dog that we had provided.
However, our instructions weren’t completely clear, so he drew a picture of a dog in the
workbook instead. He had his daughter outline the dog since he didn’t have confidence in
his abilities to draw it well.
“I am a terrible artist but still would like it to look nice”
Interestingly, he wrote very little about his own dog in this section. He mainly talked
about the process of drawing the dog and why he made those choices.We thought he
subconsciously avoided talking about the dog directly.
In the journal we had him keep, he talked more about his own dog.We learned through
the interview that his dog had serious medical issues that caused it’s health to deteriorate
rapidly. He had a choice to spend several thousand dollars to give the dog a couple more
years, or he could put it to sleep. He chose to put the dog to sleep. He talked about how hard
it was for him, mentioning that through the divorce, he never cried or regretted anything, but
he cried deeply when his dog was put to sleep.
In addition, during the interview, we asked if he had plans to get another dog. He

17. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 17
Reactions
immediately said no.To us, this implied that he was still dealing with the loss and wasn’t
prepared to care for another animal.
He noted in the journal that while he had lost many things recently, the loss of the dog was
the hardest to bear.
“In conclusion, I realize I don’t miss a lot of the things that I lost.
Mostly the dog. She didn’t complain and loved me for just being
there.”

18. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 18
Implications
Overall, we felt our subject has dealt with the larger loss, but is still dealing with some of
the smaller losses.When asked to be a part of the cultural probe, our subject stated the
following.
“I’ve lost a lot lately.Wife, truck, boat, and dog. Boy I miss that dog!”
We assumed that our subject lost his dog through the divorce, however the dog had passed
away during the divorce. Our subject was still grieving with the loss and the dog’s cremated
remains were still in the subject’s garage. Our subject described in detail how he is going
to bury his dog in the backyard.Though it appears that our subject has gone through the
five stages of grief with his wife, he is still not over the loss of his dog nor does he want a
replacement.
The boat and the truck are material objects to our subject.They in themselves do not
hold any value and are replaceable. Our subject mentioned that he does not care to lose
these objects as newer and better products are produced everyday.Though our subject
recognizes that he can purchase a better boat than what he had, he prefers to have a more
simple product which reminds him of a period where he had more fun in the experience.
Our subject now has a Dodge Challenger instead of a truck which provides a different
experience of feeling. It serves a message to his wife as well. Both of these objects are
different than the original product and it can be implied that our subject is changing the
objects around him to experience different emotions and represent different meanings.

19. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 19
Reflections
Each theme had its own book with instructions and our subject mentioned that some of the
instructions in the writeup presented were confusing. As an example, we provided a dog
figurine for our subject to paint, but our subject ended up painting his own image of the dog
onto a piece of paper.Though the goal of the task was completed, the object inside became
useless and disregarded. Our subject did mention that seeing and holding the dog collar
was more impactful than painting, so having multiple objects to represent a trigger might
not be needed. It is best to look at the objects chosen and ask if these best represent the
message you are trying to send.With potential limited space in a probe, you want to make
sure all items inside have a purpose.
Knowing particulars about your subject is important.
If we would have known how our subject’s dog died, we would have centered the theme
possibly around death.This may have caused our subject to experience loss in a different
manner.
There is a dilemma for us in this project. If we design a probe package for a particular
subject, we need to do a pre-interview to know certain details about their story to build a
specific package(in this case, how he lost his dog). However in this way we will accomplish
the research goals through the interview and there is no need to do the culture probe. Or,
if we design a probe package for a user group, we have to keep the items generalized.
Then the problem is, those items might not be provocative enough for users to reflect their
feelings and attitudes on their loss.
For this probe, we attempted to create a section towards the back of the pet carrier which
would be inaccessible to the subject, but allow them to look through and see objects.

20. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 20
ReflectionsThis was to create the sensation of a shrine. However, our subject didn’t see what we were
attempting to do and reached through the barrier and grabbed the objects and used them.
One of the objects towards the back was a rose. Our subject ended
up taking the rose and throwing it away as he felt that it was not
needed and it started to wilt.“It got yucky”.Yet it still implied his
attitude towards the things he lost.
If you are attempting to create sections inside your probe, they need to be very accessible
or are built to maintain its structure. If not, the probe’s meaning and direction or interaction
can change. In our case, it was actually a blessing as we were able to get more data on our
subject.
Overall our probe was successful in getting out subject to openly talk about his divorce and
share his feelings about loss. In using the object provided, our subject was able to reflect
on the items loss and by writing down his feelings into a journal, we were able to capture at
what stage in the grieving process our subject was in.
When thinking about divorce, what we had in mind was sadness and grief, so we built the
package in a way to bring back the bitter memories by offering sensitive triggers, to “make
him cry”. However we didn’t expect him to be really positive about the divorce and had
already gotten over it. In this project, our biases influenced how we built the probe package
and indirectly affected how the subject reacted to the probe.

21. Cultural Probe - Jordan Hayes, Andy Hunsucker, Pui Mo 21
Critique
The insights gained through this method depend upon a good understanding of the subject.
If we had made a simple probe with very general items related to loss and handed it to a
subject we weren’t familiar with, we might have gotten lucky, but we wouldn’t have been
able to connect the subjects reactions back to specific events in their own lives.
Because we had a sense of what our subject had lost we were able to tailor the package to
him specifically.This let him give us much richer insights into his own thoughts and ideas.
This method has some similarities to a diary study, but in this method we were able to give
him a specific task to work through to connect a meaning to the subject, and allow him to
write more about what that task meant to him.The probe allows the subject to construct the
meaning and control the emotion. In an interview the researchers are in control and can
guide the conversation as they choose.
This method also allows the subject to live in the emotion they’re experiencing, and allows
them to say whatever they feel without having a researcher or antagonist look over their
shoulder.This can also construct a story for the subject.They can use the triggers to
understand more about how they construct the meaning of the events being studied.