Understanding experience using dialogical methods: the case of serendipity
McCarthy and Wright's (2004) approach to understanding user experience provides a rich conceptual framework. In this paper, we report how this framework was used to guide the development of an approach to researching the richness of a particular experience - serendipity. Three themes were identified; life as lived and felt, the whole person, and dialogical sense making. These were used to help understand the key qualities of the strategy, tools and techniques that were required in the empirical study of the experience of serendipity. The paper explains this process and illustrates the depth of understanding that our choice of tools afforded. After describing the case study we offer some guidance on how to choose appropriate tools and methods for researching other types of experience.