Experience prototyping: Gathering rich understandings to guide design

In this paper we discuss Experience Prototyping as an appropriate research tool for capturing people's stories related to physical places. It is difficult to explore subjective experiences through strict conventional prototyping methods within a lab; therefore we argue the need for innovative research techniques especially when designing interactive systems where mobility, context and people play a fundamental role. We discuss the methodology of "Experience Prototyping", that we used to gather insights in a research project we have conducted, and also what advantages such method brings to a user-centered process. We will present some reflections and themes emerged from using experience prototypes, and how they are contributing to our understanding of the relationship between spatial narrative and place, and in particular how they may be used as an interaction resource towards discovery and sharing of "place". In doing so, we offer a basis for discussion on how to co-design technologically mediated experiences together with users of such spaces. Finally we discuss how this method informed the design of "The Breadcrumbs" application.