Walking Probes
Design Anthropology
Definition
Walking probes are a way of viewing a space by walking through it and observing as you go. It is most useful when done with a guide.
“To walk the roads, with feet and hooves, amounts for the Van Gujjars to a form of political resistance. for the Akhoe Hai//om of Namibia, prior to independence when the country was administered by South Africa, anyone seen crossing a road, or whose tracks remained as evidence, risked being shot.”
— Tim Ingold and Jo Lee Vergunst Ways of Walking Pg 12
Procedure
Preparation
Find a local guide
Find spots that you want to make sure you hit
Create a focus area on what observations you want to take note of.
In person
Make sure that you address your guide with respect.
Reiterate the purpose of the walk.
Ask your tour guide to explain everything, even if they think it should be common knowledge.
Then just let your feet take you.
Make notes of anything relevant along the way.
Make sure to thank your guide for their time.
Analysis
Immediately after each session write down your reflection, specifically take note of your feelings throughout the experience and what things surprised you. Also make note of what you were expecting to see and did not.
Take your notes and reflections and look for those opportunity spaces.
Use Case
While researching the waste management procedures of the Eskenazi museum of art me and my teammates did a walking probe with the services manager. He showed us behind the scenes of how all of the different types of waste were disposed of and how they got waste from one part of the museum to another.
Strengths
Walking probes are a really great way to get to know an opportunity space at the ground level. You can have interactions with people and see things organically that no survey would tell you.
Weaknesses
It is hard to quantify or create graphics out of a walking probe.
Sometimes people just show you what they want to show you and not what you want to see. You are along for the ride.
