[Sigia-l] smelly contextual inquiries?

[Yogesh Tadwalkar]

A brilliant idea indeed Eric,

In fact, it is scientifically proven that smells affect the limbic part of 
the brain, thereby evoking memories usually unreachable in any other manner. 
I saw a documentary on Discovery channel just yesterday, showing how using 
smells, people can be made to remember things from as far away as one's 
childhood. All that smell in the documentary reminded me of this post of 
yours and prompted a reply :-)

As a usability consultant, I often find that a large part of observations 
made on field visits is lost by the time we start analyzing data. Taking 
meticulous notes is better said than done even when you work in pairs, 
considering you are still 'absorbing the reality'. Further, not everything 
can be verbalized instantly (or ever) even if you observe it. All this 
underlines the need to 'rewind and replay' the past with as many tools as 
you can use.

While solutions such as videotaping sessions (if permitted), collecting 
on-scene artifacts and conducting the analysis close to the end of a CI 
session do work well; recreating smells from the field visits is a novel and 
creative idea worth trying!

The only problem with 'recreating smells' is that the memory may not be the 
most dependable tool to recreate them. While you may remember that the "Tall 
guy had a curry flavored food container"; I doubt you will ever remember the 
curry smell itself. The best option would be to beg, borrow, or steal as 
many 'smelly' artifacts as you can from the field visit.

Once again, it's a great idea and I am surely going to try it the next time 
I do CI.

Oh, the smell of this dusty teddy bear reminds me....

regards,
yogesh


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eric Scheid" <eric.scheid at ironclad.net.au>


> here's an idea I'd like to throw out there for a bit ...
>
> While conducting a contextual inquiry, take note of any items which have a
> scent ... roses on the desk, the curry flavoured food containers in the
> trash, spearmint gum, and so on.
>
> Then, later, back in the office, you could recreate those smells to 
> provoke
> memories of the visit, unlocking any associated memories you might have in
> addition to the meticulous notes you took.