Probing (introduced as Cultural Probes) is a form of exploratory and design-oriented self-documentation method. Design probes are collections of evocative tasks meant to elicit inspirational responses from people – not comprehensive information about them, but fragmentary clues about their lives and thoughts.

An aesthetically well-designed probe kit is given to volunteers, who then complete the assignments and send them back to the researchers. The contents of the probe kit differ from one design or research project to another, but the assignments and materials typically are purposefully ambiguous, trying to stimulate the mind of the participants and capture their experiences.