Assignment 1D

I met up with Samantha today to discuss our findings, and was really surprised by how much she knew about me!

From one photograph of my room in halls she managed to tell a lot about me. She writes:

'Little clutter: suggests little material possessions/ goes home regularly, little need for a lot of things at uni? Maybe lives close to Dundee? Influenced by the tidy, little clutter look at home? Tidy: practical, organized - work books neatly laid out, neat, conscientious' ... 'themepark photo: likes theme parks, adventurous, fun,daring. Water bottles: healthy, goes to the gym? Refills them - environmentally conscious, recycles? CD Player/Radio: Likes listening to music, perhaps whilst working.'

Just to confirm how accurate Samantha is I go home every weekend because I only live 30 minutes away. My mum is a complete neat freak and it has rubbed off on me a little! I try to be as organized as possible and often write myself lists of things to do. I love going to theme parks and enjoy thrill seeking activities. The water bottles do get refilled, and I do go to the gym on a regular basis. And as I write this I am listening to the radio! So its fair to say I was a little freaked out by how much one photograph can say about me!

There was nothing that Samantha got completely wrong, some things were slightly inaccurate but on a whole she figured me out. To be honest I didn't expect her to figure out these things about me, so when I read her findings I was amazed. I didn't feel uncomfortable in anyway, but didn't realise that my possessions reflected my personality as much as they do.

So how did I do?

There were some things that I guessed right and others that I didn't expect to get wrong. For instance I had written that I thought Samantha was athletic, sporty and perhaps a member of a University club. She confirmed to me today that she does enjoy fitness and is part of the University hockey team.

In one of the photographs there was a piano, and I mentioned that I thought she may have learned to play an instrument when she was younger. And indeed she did! I got a few other things correct, like the fact her mum loved gardening, that her house is now more modern and that she does enjoy to read novels.

However there was one thing I got wrong, which surprised me. In a lot of the photographs Samantha is posing alongside her sister and they appear to be close. However over the years they have become a little more distant and no longer share a close bond.

The handbook asks 'how did you feel thinking about other people's private lives?' When I first started to look through the photos I didn't feel like I was invading any personal information. However as I started to build up a more detailed picture I started asking a lot of questions about my partner: What was her upbringing like? Does she get on with her family? Is she popular? It wasn't until I started looking at the bigger picture that I became more aware that I was studying someone's life/ personality and that, that person would be doing the exact same with my photographs.

I have actually enjoyed being a research subject. When I handed my photos across I was convinced that Samantha would get me all wrong, but she never. Had she uncovered something that I hadn't realised about myself I think I may have felt very differently. After looking up the Johari Window I think that I may know a lot about myself, but perhaps didn't realise how much other people know about me.

Finally the assignment asks students to think about 'what are the ethical considerations to design research?' I think in the case of this design research you have to take into consideration that you are taking a look into someone's private life. The conclusions made may not be accurate, and even if they were correct they won't apply to everyone. Some individuals may not want other people to know about the findings, therefore consideration and privacy are the two main issues, I think, which should be considered if undertaking this type of research.