Field Research
Field research is often called observational research or ethnographic research. During this process, our research analysts observe and record how people use the product or service in the real world environment.
Timing
Field research should be conducted early in Assessment to identify user requirements for the product or service specification.
Methodology
Our research analyst observes typical users in real working or usage conditions as they use the product or website, noting common tasks, order of activities, related activities, problems and user solutions to obstacles encountered.
Benefits
- See the impact of environmental influences on users' performance.
- Provides a basis for creating personas.
- Establish workflows from a user's perspective to compare to the system perspective.
- Provides the opportunities to identify new features or feature enhancements.
Duration
Typical observational research takes 3-4 weeks depending on the number of subjects studied, participant availability and the complexity and length of the tasks being observed.