Replicating an In-The-Wild Study One Year Later
Sandy Claes, Andrew Vande Moere · 2017
The in-the-wild methodology involves the evaluation of a functioning prototype in an everyday context, during which the participants are typically left unaware of the actual study context. As the material dimensions of such a prototype imply a preliminary status, the apparent difference between prototype and the final end product might affect the actual ecological validity of the evaluation results. By replicating an in-the-wild study of an identical yet progressed high fidelity prototype versus its research product one year apart, we aim to investigate the impact of material dimensions on user behavior. Our results demonstrate how impermanent material dimensions tend to increase the participation rate and augments reflection on ownership; imperfect dimensions reduce the expectations and contextual appropriation of an installation; and incomplete dimensions imply a relationship with the investigator. We thus claim that material dimensions affect the evaluation outcomes of in-the-wild evaluation studies.