We developed a simple, low-frills protocol for a pop-up user study called the Research Confession Booth. Participants were recruited from amongst passersby to complete a ten-minute task at a laptop, while Quicktime captured their screen, mouseclicks, and voice narration. Tasks have included "Show us a favorite feature of a resource you use to do research" and "Walk us through a snag you recently encountered while trying to find information for your coursework." With very little overhead, we've been able to capture a rich trove of information about how our users understand and navigate our systems, and how they actually do their research. We'd like to share the basics of our protocol (including tips on making it IRB-friendly) as well as some highlights from the data we've collected thus far.
This is part of the Designing for Digital Conference. Learn more at www.designingfordigital.com.
