Studying Usability in the Field: Qualitative Research Techniques for Technical Communication - Gould and Doheny-Farina

Precise: Studying Usability in the Field: Qualitative Research Techniques for Technical Communicators – Gould and Doheny-Farina

Qualitative Field Research - Research that involves investigating few things in-depth, in the “natural environments of those under study” — “an art learned only by doing” (329-30). Underlying is a belief that usability can only begin to be understood by “observing how people solve problems in their normal environment”, getting close to the user’s point of view to understand their actions and reactions regarding how documentation is implemented.

What can be Learned in the Field – user demographics, user work environments; user information privileges, how information is used, user behavior, information accuracy/usefulness, user satisfaction

Limitations to Qualitative Field Research – “researchers using qualitative techniques may not discover anything that applies to a larger population” (330). Qualitative research is situated, specific, and informative, but cannot be applied to a larger population.

Quantitative Methods in Qualitative Field Research - “A complete usability program combines qualitative and quantitative research… (The two) are interdependent and should reinforce on another” (332). A researcher can go into the field and perform qualitative research to provide information about a task for a design, establish variables for later quantitative research, and validate quantitative results and instruments. Qualitative research allows you to investigate with fewer resources.

Field Research Constraints: time, political (relationships), legal, ethical, and budgetary (334).

Preparing for Field Research - Preliminary research: speak with fellow employees (those with first-hand knowledge of the material in question), review past user feedback, and read professional material (trade books, conferences, etc). Create your research plan: decide what to study, who to study, and how to study them.  Acquire authorization, research the investigation site, and set-up formal/informal meetings (335).

Field Research Techniques

-Questionnaires: utilize “open-ended” questions to allow “users respond any way they see fit” (336). Ask the questions plainly, and ask few of the open-ended variety.

-Interviews: provide more in-depth information than surveys. Maintain a “non-threatening” persona to encourage participation and increase comfort, using open questions to prompt discussion of matters at length. Can be formal or informal.

Three types of Formal Interviews: Post-hoc (interview user after they just use a product); Discourse-Based (encourage discussion by emphasizing difference in new and old practices; and Scenario-Based, observe the users working in their natural work environment. To do this, you must maintain relationships with users who will serve as key informants, find “effective vantage pints from which to observe”, and have a clear sense of the activity network of the environment.

Information can be recorded through: field notes (observational, theoretical, and methodological), using recording technology (like voice recorders or photographs), and conducting read(think)-aloud protocols, where users read the documentation in question and is encouraged to verbalize their thoughts during the task (340). This information can be analyzed by transcribing and compiling, coding according to the Grounded Theory (Glaser and Strauss), then completed in a trip report (341). 

Works Cited

Gould, Emilie and Stephen Doheny-Farina. “Studying Usability in the Field: Qualitative Research Techniques for Technical Communicators.” Effective Documentation: What we have learned from Research. Ed. Stephan Doheny-Farina. Boston: MIT Press. 1988. 329-343. Book.