Why Field Studies Are So Insightful
Field studies, also known as contextual inquiry, allow you to step into users’ environments and observe how they interact with your product in their natural setting. Imagine observing a healthcare worker using a patient-tracking app on a busy hospital floor, or observing a remote worker juggling multiple tasks using a project management tool. These studies provide a comprehensive understanding of users’ routines, challenges, and environmental influences, providing insights that office-based research may overlook.
Think of it this way: in a controlled setting, you can only understand how users say they’ll use a product. But in a field study, you get to see how they actually use it. For example, an employee in a warehouse using inventory software might frequently switch between screens to check items, losing valuable time. Observing them in action reveals specific pain points that inform practical design improvements, such as adding quick-access buttons or shortcuts.
Field studies go beyond understanding individual interactions—they uncover the physical, social, and situational factors that shape user experiences. For instance, a field study might show how ambient noise in a busy office affects users’ ability to focus on complex software or how limited desk space impacts their use of a desktop-based application. These insights enable designers to create products that are not only functional but also tailored to the realities of users’ environments.
Conducting a Successful Field Study
In a field study, your role is less of an active researcher and more of a silent observer. Here’s how to make sure your field study captures authentic, valuable insights:
Prepare Thoughtfully
Before the study, familiarize yourself with the product’s use cases and the user’s environment. If you’re studying a delivery app used by drivers, understand the unique challenges they face on the road. This preparation enables you to observe subtle interactions, like how drivers handle the app while juggling navigation and delivery tasks.
Blend In and Stay Unobtrusive
During the study, aim to be as unobtrusive as possible. Avoid interrupting users or influencing their behavior. Your goal is to observe natural interactions, so resist the urge to jump in with questions or suggestions. For instance, if a user encounters a problem, let them try to resolve it themselves rather than stepping in, as this can reveal critical usability issues.
Observe Everything, Even Small Details
Pay close attention to all aspects of user behavior, from body language to facial expressions to non-verbal reactions. For example, a nurse using a healthcare app might quickly swipe through screens but hesitate when inputting patient data. This hesitation could indicate a poorly designed input field or confusion over data-entry options. Detailed observations like these provide valuable insights into design pain points.
Take Notes and Capture Visuals (When Possible)
Document your observations meticulously. If appropriate and with user consent, take photos or videos of the user’s setup, gestures, and interactions. Visual documentation helps the design team see exactly what users experience. For example, a photo of a crowded warehouse where employees use tablets for order tracking can help designers understand spatial constraints and the need for larger touch targets.
Ask Contextual Questions
Although you’ll mostly observe, asking occasional contextual questions can provide additional insights. If a user struggles with a feature, wait until they’ve finished the task, then ask something like, “What would have made that process easier?” These questions offer context without interrupting the natural flow, allowing users to reflect on challenges or desired improvements.
Summarize Environmental Factors
After the study, summarize any environmental influences that might impact usability. For example, if you observe that a remote worker frequently switches between software tabs, it could indicate that the software lacks essential integration features. By identifying environmental factors, you gain a fuller understanding of users’ needs and the adjustments necessary to improve their experience.
When to Use Field Studies
Field studies are ideal when context truly matters, particularly for products that users interact with in specific environments or under particular conditions. Here are some scenarios where field studies provide unique insights:
Designing for Highly Specific Environments
For products used in industries with distinct work environments—like healthcare, manufacturing, or hospitality—field studies reveal the constraints and demands of these settings. Imagine you’re developing a mobile app for nurses to track patient data. Conducting field studies in a hospital shows how the fast-paced, distraction-filled environment impacts their ability to input data quickly and accurately, highlighting the need for an intuitive, streamlined interface.
Understanding Routine and Workflow
Field studies are valuable for understanding products used within complex workflows. For instance, if you’re designing a point-of-sale system for a retail store, observing the cashier’s full process—scanning items, managing the register, handling customer requests—reveals specific needs and opportunities for efficiency. Maybe the cashier struggles to locate product categories quickly, or perhaps they have difficulty entering coupon codes. These observations inform targeted improvements to create a smoother workflow.
When multiple users share a device or system, a field study helps you understand how these dynamics affect usability. For example, in a co-working space with shared booking kiosks, observing user interactions can reveal challenges like accidental logouts or difficulty navigating shared interfaces. You might find that users benefit from larger buttons or clearer instructions, creating a better experience for all users.
Gaining Insights into Physical Constraints
Physical limitations in users’ environments—like screen size, lighting, or accessibility—can be challenging to predict without observing users in situ. For example, if you’re designing a dashboard for factory workers using handheld devices, a field study could reveal how lighting affects screen visibility or how the need to wear gloves impacts touch interactions. This contextual understanding allows you to adapt the design to these physical constraints, making the product more accessible and effective.
Example: Real-World Impact of Field Studies
Let’s say you’re designing software for delivery drivers who manage packages on the road. You conduct a field study, spending a day with drivers as they navigate routes, handle packages, and check delivery details on their devices. During the study, you observe that many drivers have to remove their gloves to interact with small on-screen buttons, which wastes valuable time and disrupts their workflow. Additionally, you notice that the screen’s brightness is difficult to adjust quickly, making it hard to view in varying lighting conditions.
Based on these observations, you recommend larger, glove-friendly buttons and a quick brightness toggle for the app. These improvements wouldn’t have been as apparent without observing drivers in the field, where these small adjustments can significantly improve usability and efficiency.
Field studies allow you to see the bigger picture of users’ environments and workflows, uncovering insights that are hard to capture in a controlled setting. By blending into the background and observing how users navigate their real-world contexts, you can tailor your product to truly fit their needs and ensure a more seamless user experience.
