Capturing social value in UX projects

In this experience report, authors detail how qualitative User Experience (UX) research aligned the interests of UX researchers with the interests of the communities being investigated to increase participant engagement. Because UX research is designed to maximize insights into user motivation, part of UX ethical concerns should include how insights get integrated into the communities where the technology is deployed. This report discusses successes and challenges of drawing conclusions from qualitative research in an annual art event. In the Fargo-Moorhead Art Marathon, content creators collected user data, collaboratively strategized with participants, and refined a three-year-old event that has grown from a loose assortment of performances into a ten-day multi-mediated art event created for alternative art engagement. The authors, who conducted initial research to create a phone app to track the participant progress, report on how event data during was evaluated and folded into the next iteration.