Posts tagged “preparation”

This Week @ Portigal

It’s a gorgeous sunny Monday here in Pacifica (stay away fog, stay away!) and we’re on our way into another interesting week.

  • Later this week we’re taking our clients and their prototype out into the field to meet users. We’re also exploring how people are using a brand new product, something no one on our client team has any idea about, so we’re expecting a very cool experience. Meanwhile, Tamara is printing out materials, putting incentives in envelopes, charging batteries, picking meetup and debrief locations and other organizing the hell out of the whole process.
  • We’ll be launching a new feature here devoted to war stories from field work.
  • Steve gets his revising on, hopefully wrapping up the next iteration of the book manuscript.
  • We’ve put away all the leftover snacks from our event last week and Tamara will be posting some of the highlights (of the discussion, not necessarily the snacks).
  • Out and about: Look for us at the inauguration of the new Orange Silicon Valley office, at SF Service Design Drinks, or the Tangible UX Happy Hour.
  • Steve will be heading over to Mozilla to speak with UX researchers and designers about how to synthesize user research data.
  • We’ll be making at least one announcement about an upcoming conference presentation, and in a wonderful location!
  • While it’s not quite American Idol level of tension and suspense, we’ll be chatting with more people this week about collaborating with and even joining our team.
  • What we’re consuming: Roadie, head rubs, margaritas.

Reading Ahead: First day of fieldwork

Reading ahead logo with space above

Here’s what my day looks like today–3 interview sessions starting this morning in Soquel, then up to San Francisco, and then over to Vallejo where I’ll finish up around 9 pm.

Tuesday-route-web

I’ve tried to schedule everything so I’ll have time in between each interview to write notes. It’s amazing how hectic what seems like an ample schedule often becomes once you factor in traffic, parking, eating, checking email, and the general miscellany of a day.

I got everything ready last night: video camera, still camera, release forms, models and materials for participatory design activities at the end of the interview session.

fieldwork-prep-web

I went over the interview guide, and am feeling really good about it. I always get kind of charged up when I run the interview through in my mind the night before fieldwork starts. There’s this unique feeling that comes from knowing that I’m about to go out and find out things from people that, sitting at my desk the night before I go, I can’t even imagine.

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