Initially, working in the so-called fuzzy front-end, only little is known about the yet to be designed product. How to get to a product that is wanted amongst users and which fits in its context?
A product wanted by users, is fulfilling a need. Needs can be expressed quite differently, sometimes latent, sometimes obviously present, sometimes in a functionality and other times as an experience. In all cases it is crucial to know who are the stakeholders and particularly what their interest is. Therefore it is very useful to know the person behind the stakeholder; what does he / she like and what does this person focus on in products? One of the means to find these answers, is by using a user probe.

A user probe is very effective to do qualitative research amongst stakeholders. A useful group in this are the end-users; getting to know these end-users can be done really well by utilizing the user probe.

A user probe is a small package that users take with them for a short amount of time to collect information. Amongst others, a small workbook can be part of a user probe. In these workbooks all kinds of small questions and assignments are given to the user. There are always a few simple questions, but also assignments such as describing certain moments and situations from their perspective, can be part of the workbooks.