Phenology Probes feedback

not sufficiently cover or engage with important related literature regarding phenology & more-than-human work that explore the challenges involved in decentring the human in design methods

Further explain choice of older adults

Explain short data collection period hence didn't cover all seasons

Reflect on what didn't work

Instant cameras were hit or miss - Some participants chose not to use it because of the simplicity of using the phone

Instant cameras not developing photos in cold weather during winter

discussion of this work’s relevance to and potential for supporting the design of interactive system and what this work’s implications are for designers

Literature to add

Liu et al's work on Human-Fungi relationships - engage this paper more

Dew and Rosner's work on salvage fabrication

draw on longer legacies of probes—inspired by the Fluxus movement

recent variations like itinerant probes that consider the spatial dimensions of their placement (Rosner et al 2016)

why the specific activities they put forth were chosen, and what they sought to learn from such encounters

why a group of older gardeners was chosen felt weak

The discussion could also use more connection to rich bodies of work within and just outside the field on sustainability and desig

For a phenology probe, it seems that the study should take place over the course of multiple seasons in order to fully understand the cycle of a space

The authors could connect how phenology would expand upon current work in posthuman / more-than-human design as a way of understanding temporal relations

ecological calendars (see work by Karim-Aly Kassam) and Traditional Ecological Knowledge from anthropology and ecology that seeks to understand how humans understand their relationships to nature phenologically.

Why older adult gardeners?

“not messing with nature” P4 - elaborate on what she meant

The second insight of the phenology wheel is a common aspect of permaculture (gardeners working cooperatively with nature through what they plant). As a result, it makes me wonder if symbiotic relationships part of cohabitation (what Liu et al do in ref. 33 for symbiotic encounters).

discuss its relevance or potential for designing interactive systems

What are the implications of the method developed for others who wish to use it?

How can we use this method to design interactive systems?

What is the potential role of technology here, and how can this method provide insights that other designers could use?

I needed more critical engagement with these terms and more engagement with the related “more-than-human” literature

Table 1 needs a body of text explaining this further