If I have limited time, or if I don't have budget or for political reasons we can't actually talk to people, I use community/social media sites like Facebook, Myspace and Ning to find communities of people that might be relevant. Facebook has a lot of very active special interest groups that are often open to anyone to read and participate. In the past I have gotten permission form my client to post questions on community groups and web forums to ask people specific questions.
I've also gotten clients to do more internal stakeholder type interviews with different groups of people who aren't directly involved in the project. These can be done over the phone and don't take much time. You do get a more internal point of view, but often it's better than nothing. It really depends on what type of project/site you are working on and who your target audience is. Kim ----- Original Message ---- From: Todd Zaki Warfel <li...@toddwarfel.com> To: IXDA list <disc...@ixda.org>; IAI Members <iai-memb...@iainstitute.org> Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2009 8:23:28 AM Subject: [IxDA Discuss] Research methods when you only have 2-3 hours or 2-3 days So, yesterday I asked what your favorite methods for rapid research were. Nobody responded. Does that mean that no one here is using research to inform your designs? Are you guys all just winging it? Do you just skip the research phase if your client tells you "we don't have time."? I realize this group is geared more towards design or organizing information, but how do you inform your decisions? Have we gotten so complacent that we just go with our gut or based on our past knowledge? Come on people. If you only have a few hours or a few days to produce some research, what method(s) do you use? Cheers! Todd Zaki Warfel Principal Design Researcher Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully. ---------------------------------- Contact Info Voice: (215) 825-7423 Email: t...@messagefirst.com AIM: twar...@mac.com Blog: http://toddwarfel.com Twitter: zakiwarfel ---------------------------------- In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not. ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
