The AEIOU method came from Dev Patnaik in his book Needfinding: Design Research and Planning. I first learned about it from Designing Your Life by Burnett and Evans.
The acronym stands for:
Activities
- What were you doing?
- Was it structured or unstructured?
- What was your role in the activity?
Environments
- Where were you?
- What kind of place was it?
- How did the place make you feel?
Interactions
- What or who were you interacting with?
- Was the interaction novel or familiar?
- Was the interaction formal or informal?
Objects
- What objects were you interacting with?
- What objects helped you feel engaged?
Users
- Who else was there during the activity?
- How did they make the experience positive or negative?
References
Burnett, B., & Evans, D. (2016). Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-lived, Joyful Life. Alfred A. Knopf.