Class 4. Methods & Field Equipment

Since Last Week: Cooking Fieldwork


How did it go?
+ How effective was RECRUITING?
+ How did the Discussion Guide go for the TYPE
OF PERSON you were seeking?
+ What would you do BETTER?


Top Line Learnings: On the car-ride home from interview, discuss and record TOP LINE LEARNINGS; what were the most amazing things?

Stop-Watch Coding: Record start time of interview in notebook (syn with video). Star important things in notebook and record time.

Other Tips:
+ constantly ask "what are you doing?", "what are you thinking?", etc.
+ try and lead the person somewhere during the interview, e.g. durability
+ never interrupt and coordinate question strategies with fellow interviewers
+ there's always a threshold (usually 5-8 interviews) where you've seen enough
+ if the person is uneasy about the interview, it may help to make everything seem official, e.g. by sending confirmation emails.
+ when scheduling, follow-up and have back-ups (don't be afraid to leave in the person isn't qualified when you get there)


RESEARCH METHODS
A guiding framework or set of activities
used as a means to gather specific types
of information from and about people

IN-HOME INTERVIEW
In-context interview in participant’s home
~1-2 hours
+ Good for in-depth conversation in the context of
how people live
+ Good opportunities for “show & tell”
+ Very general; depend on well structured
discussion guide
+ Good as a general framework with smaller
research activities included


IN-STORE INTERCEPT
Approaching shoppers in a retail environment
~ 10-20 minutes; quick data collection
+ Good for interviewing a broad array of people
about their shopping habits, specific product /
retail feedback
+ Bad for higher level needs learning
+ EXAMPLE: Sam’s Club intercepts
+ good for getting some numbers (quantitative)
+ NOT good for higher level needs

Planning and Implementation:
0. develop criteria, e.g. wait till they pick up a product, or look at it for a long time
1. explain what yer doing
2. explain why yer pointing a camera ("I take lousy notes")
3. get to the $$$ (5-10 minutes for $20, give low estimate on time)



SHOP ALONG
Interview while shopping for a specific product
~30–60 minutes
+ Good to understand how people learn about
and choose products
+ Great to gauge first reactions to new products /
retail experiences
+ Challenging to record well, often needs to be
discreet
+ usually do along with an interview, first
+ EXAMPLE: LCD TV Shop Along in Circuit City

SHADOWING
Accompanying a participant while they engage in
some sort of activity
~ Time varies
+ Good for witnessing an activity / process and
having the ability to ask follow up questions
+ You experience it like the user
+ Difficult to remain a fly on the wall
+ EXAMPLE: Laundry research


DISPOSABLE CAMERA STUDY
The participant takes photos according to some sort of
pre-determined set of instructions
+ general purpose is to review the photos and notes with the person
+ Time varies
+ Good for getting a glimpse of somebody’s life nonintrusively,
over a period of time
+ Excellent source material for interviews
+ Not a lot of control over what photos are taken or how
+ Also called “day in the life study” or “beeper study”
+ EXAMPLE: India cooking process, audio research


CARD SORT
People put cards representing various concepts or
items in prescribed piles and describe them
~30-40 minutes
+ Good to understand how people associate
things differently
+ Need to use the same method across several
users
+ gets at "what do people value?"
+ use the same activity for several different users, so you start to see trends, e.g. 20-40 people
+ EXAMPLE: Premium Trend Research
make two piles, e.g. "It just has to be functional" and "It offers some kind of special or emotional benefit".
then have them place cards on either pile, e.g. "vactions","laundry","TV", etc.

INVENTORY
Participant pulls out and comments on an
inventory of items
~ 20–40 minutes
+ Good for documenting an ecosystem of
products
+ Good to introduce products to ask more indepth
questions about later
+ EXAMPLE: UMPC research

FIELD EQUIPMENT
How prepared were you with field equipment?

The basic checklist:
+ Digital camera
+ Camcorder
+ Spare Batteries
+ Spare Tapes
+ Monopod / Tripod
+ Cell Phone
+ Notebook
+ Pens
+ Discussion Guide
+ Bag
+ Water
+ Stipend /
Agreement


Car Culture
PROJECT #2
For the next two sessions, you are going to
interview someone who spends a lot of
time in their car. People who travel a lot for
work, soccer moms, commuters, etc.

ASSIGNMENT #4
For next class (3/7), you will plan out your research.
• Choose a type of person you want to research for the assignment.
• Write a research plan of who you want to talk to, what you want to
understand, and how you will accomplish this.
• Pick one or more methods that you will use for the research (hint:
choose a method you want to experiment with and design a plan
from this).
• Write a recruiting screener to find the type of person you want to
interview based on the variables you have chosen.
• Write a discussion guide that is a tool for the time you will spend
with your participant (topics / subtopics, org. of time, research
specifics)

ASSIGNMENT #5
For the class after next (3/28), you will execute and analyze your
research.
• Recruit 2 participants for your research (depending on the type of
methods you choose).
• Schedule the research. You will need to pay your participant $50 for
up to 2 hours of their time.
• You will work in teams of 2 for the research; one will lead the
research, one will record it.