Trends in the living room and beyond: results from ethnographic studies using creative and playful probing

In this article we present the findings of two ethnographic studies embedded into two broader projects on interactive television in the home environment. Based on previous research on the home context and inspired by ongoing trends around interactive television, we explored basic concepts, such as the extended home, and new interaction techniques, in particular those related to future developments of the remote control. For the two studies we also developed two variations of the cultural probes method: creative probing and playful probing. This methodological approach proved to be appropriate for gathering in-depth data on participants' opinions, attitudes, and ideas in a way favorable to the participants. Overall, our results support existing research data on user media behavior and expectations and show trends in and beyond the living room, concerned with personalization, privacy, and security as well as communication.