#Pacenti

[re-locative]

Probing into online probes

(obligatory attention-grabbing stock photo)

What are Cultural Probes? Invented in 1999 by Gaver, Dunn and Pacenti, cultural probes are a category of research instruments, usually consisting of (i) a package of "craft-worthy" materials and tools (e.g. stickers, sticky notes, maps, cameras, voice recorders); and (ii) a collection of prompts Participants respond to the prompts by creating with, or remixing, the provided materials, and return the created/altered materials to the researchers for analysis.

Insights are opened up by this alternative approach to knowledge construction - knowledge by doing - which traditional research can sometimes struggle to reveal.

Photo by Gaver et al. (1999)

Two probe studies can have needs as different as night and day, so there isn't a single right way to do a probe. But as Gaver et al. suggest, and this article summarises, probes aim to elicit interesting, surprising, and inspiring responses, and seek to guide the participant's engagement without dominating it.

Cultural probes do not have to inquire about facts alone (and usually don't!), but also delve into the speculative (what could be and what one desires), and the procedural (how one does life - the very act of making something can often capture ways of doing). This is effective for painting a portrait of social phenomena which can't be measured on a scale but can be mapped in a collage of lives and practices.

They primarily serve design research, where it is common for studies to take methods, ideas, and tools in novel, inventive directions, and in sociological research which similarly embraces knowledge as subjective and constructed.

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Cultural probes (in their traditional form) are somewhat married to the physical instruments that they are associated with. Due to the limitations imposed by pandemic lockdowns, many researchers looked into adapting methods to online channels - including cultural probes.

This research continues to be useful to us, since our research is about people who still cannot meet and still connecting virtually, even as the rest of the world resumes their pre-pandemic lives.

Within this context, Golmohammadi and Perchard propose online probes as an adaptation of the cultural probe, wherein researchers supply prompts and instructions, but not materials. Alternatively, the tools/materials are wholly virtual and participant responses are returned digitally (as audio, video, images and/or text).

Participants may still engage with physical tools in their vicinity, but translation to digitally deliverable formats makes this method distinct enough from the cultural probe to have its own name. Moreso than with cultural probes, online probes require careful design of the instruments and their delivery.

Like cultural probes, online probes entail limitations on who can access the tools. This is in exchange for online probes being excellent (ideal, even) for delivery across a highly distributed cohort.

The last of these is what makes the online probe method especially applicable to my research. More posts are pending as I progress with ideation on what form the probe will take.

[tallmantall]

#JamesDonaldson On #MentalHealth – Miami’s Top #Cop Tried To Commit #Suicide. #MentalHealth Remains An Issue For #FirstResponders

By John Pacenti A Newark #policeofficer holds the hat of Newark #Police Detective Michael Morgan during his funeral procession at Saint Lucy?s Roman Catholic Church in Newark, N.J. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011 Last year, 64 #policeofficers were fatally shot in the line of duty.  There were 160 who took their own lives. The biggest threat to #lawenforcement #officers –and often, their families– is not any armed criminal. It is themselves. Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez now stands as a tragic example of where #mentalhealth and policing intersect. He remains at Tampa General Hospital after shooting himself in the head Sunday night with his service revolver. Before he shot himself, he had his hands around his wife’s throat, media reports say.  “This incident is also a tragic reminder of the critical role that #mentalhealth plays in our #lawenforcement #officers’ well-being,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava at a news conference on Wednesday. “The reality is that these jobs are very demanding. They’re stressful and they’re emotionally taxing. They often require #officers to put their lives on the line.” Ramirez had called Levine Cava, distressed, and offered to resign around 8:30 p.m. Sunday. There had been an incident at the Marriott Tampa Water Street. Ramirez was seen with his hands on his wife’s throat, the Miami Herald reported. Somebody called the #police because they heard he had put his gun in his mouth. And then he and his wife were asked to leave the hotel for causing a disturbance. After speaking with Levine Cava around 8:30 p.m., Ramirez shot himself in the head, the bullet reportedly exiting his eye. Law enforcement #officers have a 54 percent increase in #suiciderisk compared to the general public, according to a 2019 study. “Before #COVID, #suicide was the number one cause of death of in law enforcement,” said Steadman Stahl, president of South Florida #Police Benevolent Association.  #First-responders across the board are at risk – #policeofficers, #firefighters, EMTs, 911 operators.  All must deal with tragedy on a routine basis. Shootings, horrific car accidents, drownings, drug overdoses, #childabuse. “How do you go out day in, and day out throughout your career, and experience these types of situations?”  said Al Eskanazy, founding chairman and CEO of the Miami Beach-based Community #Police Relations Foundation. “The emotional turmoil that has is incredible.” Key Biscayne Fire Chief Eric Lang said there are “peer supporters” to address #mentalhealth in the department “In the old days, you just kind of sucked it up and didn’t say anything, you carried it with you.  Now we talk about it a little bit more, we have these resources available,” Lang said. But sometimes those resources aren’t enough. Ramirez’s predecessor – Robert Parker – killed himself in 2015 after he retired from the department, also shooting himself in the head.  Another top cop and former Mayor –Carlos Alvarez —  was accused of #domesticviolence. But charges were dropped in 2016 when his ex-girlfriend, Evelyn Fernandez, a Miami-Dade #police lieutenant, did not show up for trial.   Ramirez knew all the #mental pitfalls the job entailed. “You can take the uniform but the experiences that you go through stay with you,” Ramirez told Miami television station WPLG in December 2021 Ramirez said he would compartmentalize his #stress and would never ask for help. He made it a priority to provide counseling for his #officers and Miami-Dade police has a robust #mentalhealth unit, Eskanazy and Stahl said. But as director, Ramirez faced a whole new kind of #stress. He was named by Levine Cava to lead the department in 2020. She then named him in 2022 to oversee the fire-rescue department. He shepherded the department during the height of the #COVID #pandemic. He managed the department during the fallout and nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd. Then, the Surfside condominium Champlain Towers South collapsed, killing 98. “The guy never really caught a break on anything,” Stahl said. “Freddy is the type of leader, the type of man, who bears the burdens of those around him,” Levine Cava said. “He carries the weight of his department.” Everything just unraveled for Ramirez while attending the Sheriffs  conference. Tampa #police around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday arrived after reports of threatening to harm himself with a gun. Ramirez denied he put his gun to his head and told #officers he was just arguing with his wife. But the couple had caused so much of a disturbance that the Marriott hotel asked them to leave. That put Ramirez and his wife of 28 years, Jody, on Interstate 75 back home to Miami. There was a call to the mayor – and then tragedy. Ramirez wasn’t known as one of these tough-as-nails irascible lawmen. He was affable. He played guitar. And – like in the WPLG interview – very open to talk about hard issues. Ramirez appeared on the Independent’s Anti-Social podcast in May. When Eskanazy first heard bits and pieces of what happened, he thought it was a joke – but then learned the horrifying truth. “I just started crying,” he said. “I’m a pretty tough guy – born and raised in the streets of the Bronx. This just broke me.” Stahl said he remains bewildered. He considers Ramirez a friend. “We would never have expected that, ” he said. Lang added, “He was just like this random normal guy that people connected with. He needed help. He couldn’t get help. Everybody’s really moved by this.” There are organizations to help for both #officers and family members of #cops who are subjected to the #stress.  The Atlantic magazine reported research suggesting #domesticviolence is two to four times higher in the law-enforcement community than in the general population. Blue H.E.L.P., formed in 2015, keeps track of #suicides and offers resources.  Eskanazy’s #non-profit aims to bring law enforcement and distressed communities together. “You can either allow that circumstance to deteriorate, or you can use it as an opportunity to understand it and grow from it,” he said. #James Donaldson notes:Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.  #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticleFind out more about the work I do on my 501c3 non-profit foundationwebsite www.yourgiftoflife.org Order your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,#CelebratingYourGiftofLife: From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com The program is called Struggle Well. Stahl said it is important to change the stoic mindset of officers “that it is OK not to be OK. It’s OK to ask for help.” Still, there are concerns that by reaching for help it could be used against them by the media or as they try to move up in rank. “We are changing that mindset,” Stahl said. Stahl was traveling back Tuesday from Tampa where he visited with the Ramirez family.  “They’re sticking together. They’re strong,” he said. “They just want to get the director home. There is great love among the family.” Photo by Daria Sannikova on Pexels.com Read the full article

[erickaproto]

Week 9

The Importance of People

The lecture on the importance of people goes over the use of learning the behaviors, motivations and goals of the people who are going to benefit from the design you are making. The lecture gave great examples of how to use observation of your site and subjects to create better designs. The lecture goes over the importance of understanding and analyzing the cultural context you are designing in. The lecture discusses how using stakeholder mapping allows you to think about the complexity of the social setting your design is operating in. I think this lecture was good for processing how whatever I design should be able to be integrated into the socio-cultural system the user is operating under. through using research methods like fly-on the wall observations you are able to gain insight into how the phenomenon you are designing for functions.

Cultural Probes

The lecture on cultural probes focused on how to create questions and answer questions that tell you what you really want to know as a designer. Although cultural probed generally take longer than interviews and surveys they give great insight into the daily rituals of the user, the places they go and how they feel about a space they may be using the design in. The lecture advocates for setting up the creating of a cultural probe in phases by delivering a design kit that feels like a present to the user , the length of the design probe and using in person interviews followed by a report.

The Promise of Empathy: Design, Disability, and Knowing the “Other”

This paper looked at how popular empathy activities that are used to understand people with disabilities can often further distance people with disabilities from the design process. This can happen when designers attempt to put themselves in the shoes of those with disabilities and see the disability through the lens of their limited experience cosplaying the disability instead of taking into account the actual lived experience of those with the disability. Something I appreciated from the article was its suggestion to empathize through thinking of what its like to be "with" someone vs be "like".

Gaver, Dunne and Pacenti, Cultural Probes

The Cultural Probes reading went over a team of designers leading a research project looking at novel interaction techniques to increase the presence of the elderly in local communities. The cultural probes were in the form of maps, postcards, cameras and other materials. The cultural probes were designed to provoke responses from elderly in diverse communities. They were used by the designers to develop an impressionistic account of the elderly's desires and employ these desires into the designs. Each design was completely distinct to the elderly in the areas they were designing for.

Hanington & Martin, Universal Methods of Design

This reading goes over several design research methods that could be applied. I chose to look into The Love Letter & The Breakup Letter and Speed Dating.

The Love Letter & Breakup Letter are two methods where a user writes a love letter talking about the moments of connection with a product. The love letter describes the journey of delight and loyalty with the product and gives insights into why people stay with a product even with its competitors. The break up letter however provides insight about how, when, where a product lost their enthusiasm and decided to abandon using it.

Speed Dating

This is when you compare multiple design concepts in a quick succession. Designers can storyboard different scenarios for the different variations of a product and speed date the storyboard/ potential experiences.

[hizokucycles]

Reposted from @nobrake__villain look 875 #look875madison #lookbikes #look #싱글기어 #픽시 #fixed #fixedgear #singlegear #beast #onyxhubs #pacenti #kappstein #nobrake_villain #hizokucycles Hizokucycles.com https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf7JvHWv3MD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[kinkicycle]

PEI- Canada, here I come! by Eric Estlund Via Flickr:

[bicyclespecialties]

650B Touring bike with Campagnolo Potenza Silver and custom carriers and cages. #custombike #mariposabicycles #gillesberthoud #cervino #campagnolo #gillesberthoud #compasstires #honjo #pacenti #cinelli (at Mariposa Bicycles)

[pelzonwine]

2006 Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino is firing on all cylinders right now. Gorgeous cherry, plum, tobacco and wild herbs with an intriguing charcuterie and mushroom note. I would not call this entirely traditional, but it isn't a modern Brunello either. Somewhere in the middle of the spectrum with both plenty of acidity and fruit. Has tons of tension and should be able to age for at least another decade or two if properly stored. A revelation of a wine for me because these wines give Bordeaux a run for their money. I find that to be particularly true for St Emilions which have a similar round, velvety, yet intense fruit profile. Stunner. https://www.instagram.com/p/CG03CVLlDGw/?igshid=1lqg5n87k633i

[aces5050]

(via Tested: Pacenti P-Dent Carbon Bar and Stem - $249 | BIKE Magazine)

[hellarando-blog]

Bi-laminate seat cluster finished. Point had a mind of its own.. by Mitch Pryor

[bicycleenthusiast]

PEI- Canada, here I come! by Eric Estlund Via Flickr: Quickly assembled before breaking it down and boxing it up- I have a plane to catch! Test ride pedals and all. I'm off for a bit of bike riding and adventure, but I'll be checking my email periodically for anything time sensitive. I will be back in the shop by the 19th of July. www.WinterBicycles.com

[dokanto7]

[flashfed-blog]

Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino Pelagrilli 2011 - $32

[alsim71]

#brunello #pacenti #wine #vino #noi #montepulciano (presso e lucevan le stelle)

[gears4good]

For sale. My Trek Emonda with a full Campagnolo Chorus 11s group. 52cm frame. $2800 obo and happy to ship. #Trek #Emonda #TrekEmonda #Campagnolo #Chorus #RoadBike #Road #Bike #Bicycle #Cycling #Carbon #CarbonFiber #ForSale #Pacenti #SL23 #Sapim #CXray #Custom #SelleItalia #LizardSkins #WilliamsCycling #3T #3TCycling #CircusMonkey

[hizokucycles]

#Repost from @cycleprojectstore - "They said @berdking likes to mash his bike. @berdking beats his bike on a daily basis. Be like @berdking, ride your daily beater more." #cycleprojectstore #trackbike #fixedgear #fixedgearsg #colossi #sugino #sugino #pacenti #philwood #thomson #andywarhol #hizokucycles HizokuCycles.com

[kinkicycle]

Bombadil_QM2 by velocracy