Everyday Sound Probes
Publication: Designing for Everyday Sounds at Home with People with Dementia and their Partners (CHI '22)
The Everyday Sounds Probes were created to understand how everyday sounds could contribute to activities and routines at home and consisted of a speaker, an audio recorder, and a diary. The speaker held an SD card that contained personal everyday sounds that would instantly play when the speaker was switched on. The audio recorder provided a simple interface to easily record new additional everyday sounds. The probes were annotated with colorful stickers that contained numbers matching the instructions in the info booklet and the diary contained questions for the participants to report daily on how and when they used the speaker and recorder at their homes.
We designed a timeline poster and cards that represented sounds and recordings so the couples could match their personal sounds and recordings on everyday activities and routines at home. Based on their diary entries, they mapped these cards on the timeline poster to provide a general overview and feed the discussion on how every day can be beneficial in the home environment of people with dementia.
