[Sigia-l] Field research question

[Todd Zaki Warfel]

Ooooh, I love these types of question.

On Sep 25, 2007, at 3:29 PM, gary_beck at vanguard.com wrote:

> For instance:
>
> - How often have you conducted such studies?

In general, we conduct this type of research several times a year to  
several times a quarter. But I would include home/work in this - we  
observe in their "native" environment. So, sometimes that means at  
home and sometimes that means at the office.

> - What examples can you point to as key benefits to doing field  
> research (over lab-based near equivalents)?

You'll never see the little black book of passwords, or post-its the  
person has when you go lab-based. You don't get to see their 4 year  
old run through the living room and distract them for 20 minutes,  
only to find out they were timed out of their session in the middle  
of managing their on-line account. You don't get a feeling for how  
"crowded" their real computing environment is, that it's in the  
hallway and they don't have space for booklets and welcome kits.

They can tell you about them, but they often forget many of the  
detail (e.g. how many, the exact information). These little details  
can give you a great deal of insights into how painful it can be or  
most importantly, some key product features that become  
differentiators between you and the competition.

Self reporting is notably unreliable. In the lab, we're asking people  
to recall a lot of things from another environment. So, that's  
filtered a bit as well. Seeing it first hand in their native  
environment gives you details and insights you simply cannot gain any  
other way.


> - What kind of problems if any have you encountered when doing such  
> research? (e.g., users claiming a malfunctioning computer system  
> after the visit; reassuring management of field procedures to  
> minimize risks, etc)

I've never had any problems to speak of other than getting an okay  
from management and legal to do the research. People actually are  
fond of having us come into their homes to do the research work.  
They're very willing. Additionally, we don't install things on their  
computers. So, we haven't ever had an issue of their machine acting  
any differently afterwards.

> - What have you determined to be best practices, both:
>   -- to initiate this type of research?
>   -- to promote continuing this type of research?

Initiating it, getting buy-in from stake holders, especially in more  
restrictive cultural environments, is the biggest challenge to  
initiating. Recruiting can take some time - often weeks. Travel to  
different parts of the country can also be an issue at times. But  
that's part of the planning process and if you've done it before,  
it's less of an issue.

As for continuing the research... well, once they see the insights  
that are gained from this type of research, that's usually enough to  
get management talking about "When can we do the next set of visits?"

The key to getting it started and continuing it is to show some  
business value from it. If you can show ways the business can save or  
make money from the insights you've gained, then you're typically a  
shoe in for getting more of this type of research done.


Cheers!

Todd Zaki Warfel
President, Design Researcher
Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully.
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