For my project research and realisation, I used some of the IDEO cards methods.

The first part of the research was based the observation of people behaviours. Following the method Fly on the Wall, I’ve been silently observing the behaviours of some people in a domestic situation, in particular when they were leaving a room without switching off the lights.
It happened precisely in offices, in student accommodation rooms and in flat-shared situation where all-bills are included.

*HOW: Observe and record behaviour within its context, without interfering with people’s activities.
WHY: It is useful to see what people actually do within real contexts and time frames, rather than accept what they say they did after the fact.

The second method I used is the activity scale modelling, I indeed realised a scaled model of the room, it helped me to test the idea and most of all show it to others to better explain it.

The same goes for the third method I used, video prototyping. I realised two videos, one to clarify the flow of the project mostly from a technical point of view and a second one to show the effect on the system ideated on people.

Finally I broadly used the Informance method. This has been probably the most effective method not much for forming the idea, but to confirm that my thoughts were right and that with my project I was aiming in the right direction.

*HOW: Act out an “informative performance” scenario by role-playing insights or behaviours that you have witnessed or researched.
WHY: This is a good way to communicate an insight and build a shared understanding of a concept and its implications.