Creating engagement with old research videos

User-centred design projects that utilize ethnographic research tend to produce hours and hours of contextual video footage that seldom gets used again once the project is complete. The richness of such research video could, however, make it attractive for other project teams or researchers as source of inspiration or knowledge of a particular context or user group -- if it were practically feasible to engage with the material later on. In this paper we explore the potentials of using old research footage to stimulate reflection, conversations and creativity by presenting it on pervasive screens to colleague designers and researchers. The setup we designed included large and small screens placed in a social space of a research environment, the communal kitchen. Through screenings of ten different 'old' research videos accompanied by various prompt questions and activities we built an understanding of how such material might be presented to achieve engagement. In particular we will suggest how engagement can be encouraged in three directions: immediate conversation, creative production, and reflective observation, and point to the factors that affect these outcomes.