Diaries

A type of observational technique in which the participants gather the artifacts and content – usually a combination of activities/tasks and their feelings and attitudes about them – during a set period of time and using one or more formats (for example, a collage of still pictures of their work and living envrionments). Many times, electronic devices or means of recording the data are provided, including prompts from the experimenters in some cases (e.g., text or IMS message requesting a particular response or observation at that point in time).

What We Do

We will work with you to identify the right participants, recruit them and design the appropriate materials and protocol for gathering and interpreting the data, based on the important experimental questions and issues you need to address. We typically will include a debriefing interview with each participant (or a series of mini-“check-ins” during the exercise) to gather background and contextual information, and to help us better interpret the data.

What You Get

An organized collection of the data gathered by the participants during the exercise, with attention paid to trends and similarities as well as important differences that may have particular meaning given the experimental questions at hand. We interpret the participant inputs into a set of clear, actionable conclusions about their activities, attitudes, and aspirations of interest, as well as implications for design and future direction or activities.