RESEARCH METHOD

89 Touchstone ToursImage

The guided tour is designed as a conversation that uses artifacts and the environment as touchstones for questions and insights.

The touchstone tour, or guided tour, is a contextual, empathic method that efficiently immerses the designer in a participant’s world, to understand how he or she organizes information and systems through the use of space and cognitive artifacts. The participant is typically at ease in his or her own surroundings, and often enthusiastic about sharing his or her space and objects with an interested researcher. The conversation can be gently guided, but should be flexible enough to allow ...

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