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       Let’s say you’ve created a new digital tool that allows users to find and review gluten-free restaurants and brands in one place. So far, you’ve identified your target audience; gluten-free individuals. That’s a great start! Now, what do you know about how these gluten free individuals live their lives? What makes them tick? How do they make food purchasing decisions? How would you go about finding that information?

       A diary study is a research method that consists of collecting data about user activities, behaviors, and feelings over a certain time period, ranging from a few days to a month or more. During a diary study, participants will self-report their experiences and activities on a diary (or digital diary such as Dscout, Experience Fellow, Revelation or just Google Form). Participants will self report their interactions, thoughts and feelings in regards to a product or organization. Diary studies are useful to understand long-term behaviors and potentially create Customer Journey Maps through being able to document the customer's interactions with the product or an organization. 

Contextual Inquiry is a method adapted from ethnographic research which combines interviews, observational research, and task learning sited within the operational (work) environment. In our previous post, we defined what the method is, when it is best used (exploratory user research) and why (rich detail around context-of-use). 

Imagine your design team has a great new idea for a product that you think has the potential to be a real game-changer in the marketplace. For the sake of discussion, let’s say it’s a new app that will let small business owners manage their supply chain, so they know when their products will arrive, when they need to restock, and so on. Now, if your design team already works in the supply chain space, they might already know a lot about the user requirements. But what if all of your previous products are corporate enterprise-level software, and you don’t really have a good idea of how that scales down - which features your typical small business owners need, and which ones they will never touch?

Trifecta of UXR super powers needed to excel in Ethnographic Research.  

In this day and age, User Experience Researchers (UXRs) are expected to deliver actionable insights that can meet the demands of teams in agile environments. This means less time spent “in the field” collecting data and more “bite-sized takeaways” that can be quickly disseminated among cross-functional teams. These forces are juxtaposed to traditional ethnographic/exploratory research which can be incredibly valuable when done properly. Considering the financial and human capital investment of conducting in-country or observational research, UXRs and stakeholders have been forced to think critically about how they maximize their ROI (return on investment) on research.

Shopping, for me, has taken on a whole new form.
I've been browsing bridal registries at Pier 1 while waiting in the dentist office and purchasing new running shoes from Zappos while on the train. Lately, I've even taken the opportunity to update my home grocery delivery list on my mobile phone while cooking dinner! It’s been fantastic – more efficient shopping decisions supported by in-app reviews, free shipping offers and most importantly less time at the store…which translates to more time for other things.