Overview

Field observation

Into the wild: Reveals insights by observing users in their real-life environments without self-reporting bias.

Go to Guidelines

Work Illustration by Storyset

Method Overview

Stories From The Field

Reading Links

Evaluative method

Suggested Time

Depends on the definition of your research question, screening and organization of logistics, as well as final analysis.

Required Expertise

Medium

Materials

Reporter tools (notebook, pen, camera, recording device)

Participants

Sample to be observed, observer, field assistants (if applicable)

Must have
This method can be applied to all types of innovations.

Essential Reading

What

Field observation (or ethnography) is a type of field study in which researchers observe people in their natural environments to gain a more holistic, contextual understanding of their behavior and mental models.

Who

Very important: all team members (including management and digital developers) participate in at least one short field observation exercise. This is clue to increasing the awareness and empathy of the whole team around users’ context and needs.

Why

Field observation is a great way to correct your own assumptions and mental modes by meeting your users. Goals for field observation usually include:

Gather information on the use of your product or service or how people currently solve a task (to prepare Experience Maps)
Understand people’s needs regarding your topic
Collect data for User Journeys, User Personas, or other use case definition exercises

When

Field studies are an exploratory method generally to be used in the beginning of your User Research and design process, although you can also do contextual inquiry exploring an existing product or service.

How much time

This will depend very much on your research question. Beyond time for preparing and analyzing your data collection, you should plan for time to observe the process/activities of interest several times to get a good overview.

Why it’s useful

Data on what people do vs. what they say they would do
Participants do not have to travel
Repeated exposure to examples and incidents of study

Potential challenges

Expensive & time-consuming
Harder to record than interviews

Is this for you?

Get step-by-step guidance, expert tips and best practice examples for effective Field Observation.

Read Guidelines

Other Methods

Image by Emmanuel Zapata

Emmanuel, Zapata - Digital Agriculture and HCD, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

"Our field observations in Honduras highlighted challenges faced by agricultural stakeholders, including connectivity and enabling condition constraints. This firsthand insight will greatly benefit our design."
Image by Emmanuel Zapata

Why Researchers Find this Useful

Field work brings you diverse insights on actors, behavior and the current course of events in areas linked to your topic.
Image by NNG