How methods are made from the tools, toolkits,
techniques and games
A method is a combination of tools and techniques that
have been strategically put together to serve a specific
purpose. In designing the method, it is very important to
think about the entire experience that the participants are
going to go through. Each activity should prepare or
prime them to successfully execute the next activity.
The PD tools and techniques are best used in combination
and the ideal situation is to create a workshop or research
plan by drawing upon all three types of activities:
making, telling and enacting. In fact, over the last 10
years it has become more and more common for the three
types of activities to be used iteratively. For example,
telling activities such as photo diaries might be used as
primes in order to set the stage for face-to-face playacting
of current scenarios. Making activities, such as the
construction of props of future design artifacts, might
then be used to inspire the creation of future scenarios.