life, actually: an all channels open approach to real time research on the move
TRANSCRIPT
Richard Owen, Founder & CEO,
CrowdLab January 27th 2014
Summer of 1989: plans to sit on couch and watch test match cricket scuppered by parents – when you live in Warwickshire you get a summer job at Millward Brown Full time there from 1992 to 1998 in UK, US and Latin America Opened Hall & Partners Chicago Office in 2001 – it’s still standing Hall & Partner Global Management Team in London from 2008 – heading up innovation Desire to get research and technology working better together lead me to setting up CrowdLab with two friends who ran their own digital design agency April 2011: CrowdLab mobile app launches, scuppering plans to sit on couch and watch test match cricket
Who is this bloke standing here?
How are stories told?
Even quantitative data is storytelling
The way people tell their stories constantly evolves
Ways that reflect the beautiful mess of our lives
But research approaches often struggle to keep up
We aren’t facilitating the right kinds of conversations in the right kinds of way – the way that people have those conversations in real life
Which means we can miss (interpret) things
And over rely on memory
“I don’t shop there”
Tuesday 16th April 2013 4:15 pm Real Life
Thursday 18th April 2013 8:15 pm
Focus Group
The Research Lab The Technology Lab The Operations Lab
Niall Smith Head of Research &
Technology
Mat Mabe Founding Partner
Jim Willis Founding Partner
Research Project Management Team
Partnerships
Richard Owen Founding Partner
Behind the curtain
Dev Team 4 x Web Engineers, 2 x
Mobile Developers
Professor Green
Lecturer in User Design
Creative Direction
UX Design
CrowdLab is a fluid, open system that
continually evolves
We allow participants and researchers to seamlessly weave
between different devices and methodologies within the same
project
We design projects to mirror people’s lives and the way they behave
All Channels Open
Rethink mobile research design
Mobile isn’t about a device, it’s about people on the move (and require access to software)
Rethink mobile research design
It’s not about optimising online research for a mobile world “We made a bad bet. Our legacy
as a company was building this big website. So we took a year and it was painful and we retooled our
mobile approach. Betting completely on HTML5 is one of the, if not the biggest strategic
mistake we've made” Mark Zuckerberg
Badsurveys.tumblr.com
Don’t let shit happen
Rethink mobile research design
• Not tied to a particular device • Responsive design focuses on users’ needs regardless of the device
• The way people use and engage differs depending on the device, their environment, time of day and other factors known as ‘user context’.
The device-agnostic approach to responsive design By Sarita Harbour | Mobile, Web Design | Jan 3, 2013
Device Agnosticism
Device Optimisation
• Device agnosticism focuses on the device instead of the user. The needs
of the user should be paramount, because applications exist to meet the needs of people, not machines
Google’s Mobile Planet 2012
Rethink mobile research design Think like a developer
Always be prepared to stop. Don’t rely on a signal. London is not the UK. Offline Access.
Project structure should be clean and easy to navigate –people are experts at Angry Birds, but should be amateurs at research. Use menus & loops.
The golden rules of app design by Apple & Google
Break complex tasks into smaller steps that can be easily accomplished. Slice it up.
Only show what I want when I need it. Appear/Disappear.
Allow people to manipulate things. It’s a touch screen.
Rethink mobile research design Think like a developer
The golden rules of app design by Apple & Google
Rethink mobile research design
• Don’t think of “surveys” or “guides” think of “content” to be served up to elicit a response
• Split project content into digestible tasks - even a 25 minute Quant Survey can be 10 x 2.5 minute tasks - It’s not about time or questions its about how you serve it up
• Let people co-create not just use a pre defined list • Give them choices of how to answer (whatever means necessary) • Each task can be set to be completed once, or many times • Tasks can be locked and unlocked based on date/time, previous responses • People live with the app for a few days or a few weeks
From developer to researcher
• Driven by the power of complex quantitative design, we give structure to allow people to tell us their stories
- Quantitative question types, but also text, photo, video and audio questions - Complex condition engine – unlocking tasks, routing and piping - Help qualitative story telling by giving a roadmap that they colour in however
they see fit – better than a blank canvas
Rethink methodology
• People can move between ethnographic tasks, discussion boards, quantitative surveys within one project (all methods at all times)
Quant? Qual? Just great research
Tracking below the line media Using mobile to record experiences as they go about their lives: ideal for outdoor, ambient or POS that usually gets lost via traditional at home methodologies
Rethink replacement Technology makes you better, not obsolete
Real world reflections After workshops/groups, let people go back to their lives, talk to their friends/family, think about things and keep the dialogue going
Behaviourally driven conversations Use mobile to capture the moment. Use depths/groups to explore the real behaviour not the false recollection of it (“The Aldi Effect”)
Make your life easier Mobiles instead of flip cams, tablets instead of pen and paper – less set up, less process management, less analysis, less time
A mum’s life – pain vs. pleasure confessionals In confidence – feeling good and feeling bad Duty Free – insight into duty free shopping completely disguised through travel journal approach so duty free thoughts, feelings and behaviour emerged naturally
Reframe research So it doesn’t feel like research
Car buying – a week in the decision making process among people at different stages with surveys, video records and photo encounters – getting closer to and further from the decision
Decorating – a month in the decision process among people at different stages with surveys, video records and photo encounters – interlocking online and offline, seeing them stagnate or progress
Rethink decision making Acknowledge life is not linear; don’t pre-suppose the way people make decisions
Quantitative (N=lots) with media – the power of video/photo to support a robust piece of evidence can make the difference
Rethink analysis
Qualitative (n=little), recording lots of “moments” across a week provides a quantitative both lens in which to understand a topic
Post workshops about a new telecom app, participants recorded moments in life where they might use the app – 48 people gave 250 “moments of use”
We want people to tell us better stories – ones that are more representative of their life
Design research to fit in with their life - get closer to the truth Design mobile research for mobile people – not online research for a
mobile device Think like a developer, not a researcher – design like a designer Rethink what qualitative and quantitative are – stop the silo
Recap
Regenerate Research
