My master's dissertation focused on do-it-yourself skills of Vilnius inhabitants and aimed to question whether existing DIY culture could be useful to involve people into co-designing activities to improve their living environment. In order to research DIY culture, I designed cultural probes to get non-verbal information that could be analysed alongside interviews. 

The cultural probes were designed to be fun and simple exercises, accessible and comprehensible regardless of participants’ backgrounds that could provide information about DIY objects and a focus group’s living environment. 

Participants were handed a bag with a disposable camera and a clipboard with explanations of exercises that people were asked to complete. The first task to photograph objects that they had made themselves: objects they had fixed, handmade objects, handmade presents and other objects. I used disposable cameras because there is no option of deleting or selecting taken pictures. In that way, people have fewer opportunities to frame my perception by selecting what they want to be seen.

The second task was to draw a plan of their flats and, using stickers, provide some details about their living environment. I made stickers with the names of rooms, names of furniture and electronic devices. Stickers were provided so the task was made very easy, and also because the stickers had specific information needed to understand the functionality of the spaces. In addition, I made two stickers saying ‘’my favourite place’’ and ‘’place where I spend most of the time’’. These stickers allowed me to get a better insight into habits and preferences of participants. Then, the focus group was asked to use different coloured dot-stickers to indicate where the photographed objects were located within their flats.

In the last exercise participants were asked to draw an object in their homes that was particularly significant to them. This did not have to be a DIY object but anything of importance. In this way, I could get an understanding of the way people thought about the objects - if they are more practical or emotional and if important objects are DIY or any other kind of objects.