OUTCOMES
A deep, unbiased view on users’ daily lives
Access to relevant data that sets the stage for planning follow-up research methods
USING THE TOOL
Diary Studies can include diaries kept over days, weeks or even months. Participants may be asked to collect key relevant data through various media, both digital and analog. The method by which you ask participants to log their data can be varied - from simply entering information to taking photos or videos. This is beneficial in gathering unbiased insights remotely and as a sensitising activity before engaging more deeply with users through in-depth interviews.
Plan your research: Define a research question or a set of questions you wish to investigate. Reflect on why you’re conducting the research and how you’re going to use the information you collect. Based on this, set a sample size and draw up a plan to approach your participants.
Prepare and send your material: Prepare and organise all materials you wish to send out and write detailed descriptions of how you want your participants to document their tasks. This could be writing down information on paper or on a digital platform, taking pictures or videos. Send these to your participants along with general information about the project and address ethical constraints.
Draw inferences: Review the received data and try to find patterns of repeated behaviours. Summarise all information into key learnings and compare it with insights drawn from other tools, such as shadowing or interviews.
good sequence
Interview > Diary Studies > Persona
other names
Cultural Probes
Tips
Depending on where you’re working, be sure to check the ethical and legal aspects of carrying out such research
Diary studies can vary in format so choose one that requires the right level of investment from participants. Do you want participants to write in a book on a daily basis or check-in on WhatsApp periodically, sending voice notes, photos and video
As with observation techniques, be aware of, and try to minimise, the influence the diary study process has on the behaviour of who/what you are studying. To understand this influence it can help to have a benchmark of previous behaviour (perhaps taken from a preliminary survey), and then compare to the concluding behaviour
Review the 'Research and Insight Synthesis' section to interpret your results
