Field Research
summary | detail | contextual inquiry methodology | ethnographic interview methodology
- Why field research?
- In field research, user researchers observe people in their everyday situations (homes, workplaces, schools) to learn their normal or natural behavior. Through direct observation and interaction in the users’ “real-life” context, researchers can learn how this context affects product use, including motivations, constraints, and workarounds. This research builds a deeper understanding of the relationship between users’ work and their environment, resulting in designs that increase user satisfaction with products.
- What is field research?
- Tec-Ed conducts two types of field research. In ethnographic interviews, we study the “unknown” to gain an understanding about users, their situations, and their needs. In contextual inquiry, we study the “known” to learn more about how people use products, websites, or services. In the user’s environment, we cannot control as many conditions as we can in usability testing. Thus, the data is richer and more complex.
- The two most important components are access to representative users in their own environments and experienced facilitation to learn a lot in a small amount of time.
- What does it take?
- Flexibility—The researcher uses a list of topics, but the order depends on the natural flow of conversation. In addition, as guests in the user’s environment, the researcher must allow for interruptions and delays.
- Time and place—Sessions can take place at people’s workplaces, homes, schools, the library—wherever they are when they perform the tasks of interest. Sessions can be an hour and 15 minutes long or often longer. We usually need 2–3 weeks of planning, preparation, and participant recruiting before conducting sessions.