Provoking innovation: Acting-out in contextual scenarios

Abstract

Scenario-based design typically involves stakeholders in ‘walking through’ textual vignettes of usage situations. We propose an alternative that increases stakeholder immersion in, and enriches the contextual aspects of, the scenarios. Our approach develops ‘contextual scenarios’ (bare, skeletal scenarios that describe context rather than information about actors and their goals) on the basis of rich descriptions of current practice. Contextual scenarios are then ‘acted-out’ during participatory design sessions. The approach facilitates the co-evolution of the artefact and situation of use. Such co-evolution we argue is critical to use-centred innovation.