A Field Study on Consumer Electronic Product Usage
| Client | |
| Research Method | Interviews, diary study, survey design |
| Skills | Project leadership, interview guide, moderating, thematic analysis, longitudinal study, survey design, report creation, word-cloud |
| Tools Used | Qualtrics, Nvivo, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Miro Board |
| Role | Project Manager, Moderator, Data Analysis |
| Time Period | Sep 2019 – Dec 2019 |
Problem Statement
After purchasing a product, users might not use it as much as frequently as they might have originally intended. For example, a user who buys a pair of bluetooth headphones may, for a variety of reasons, rarely use it and end up not listening to music or podcasts as much as they’d like with those headphones. The design research team at this consumer product company was interested in learning about different factors that influence product usage in “real life”, and reasons facilitating or inhibiting the usage of such products. By examining this research question broadly, the consumer product company was interested in hearing design recommendations to help consumers better achieve “ideal” usage for their consumer products.
Process
After meeting with the client to understand the scope and constraints, we developed our methodology according to our research questions. We conducted a pilot study on two participants prior to running the study, which allowed us to finalize our methodology. We ran a qualitative study exploring usage behavior by using a mixed method approach, including surveys, interviews and diary study on 20 participants. See additional detail methodology below.
RESULTS: Through our diary study, there was an 87.4% completion rate of entries. We categorized and coded our data into six key themes. Using the data coded, we derived nine key takeaways and recommendations for our consumer product client for successful adoption.
OUTCOMES: The client reacted positively to our findings, saying that our findings were consistent with some studies they have conducted before, and that they were particularly impressed with our presentation.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES: This project consisted of a team of five members and I gained valuable experiences by executing the following components of the project:
- Project Management
- Developed project timeline to manage resources and deliverables
- Managed meeting agenda and review meeting minutes for the duration of the project
- Ensured timely completion of tasks by regularly following up with delegated team members
- Provided valuable constructive feedback to team members to iterate our study tools including but not limited to the Screening Questionnaire, Informed Consent Form, Interview Moderator Guides and Diary Study Entry Forms
- Screened 10 potential participants by administering Qualtrics survey, and recruited 5 participants.
- Completed data collection for four participants including:
- Scheduling and coordination of interview sessions
- Moderated kick-off interviews and wrap-up interviews
- Onboard participants with diary study expectations
- Data analysis
- Created spreadsheet templates to organize data collection and synthesis process
- Summarized participant data for the final report and presentation
- Created wordcloud of products studied
- Triangulated quantitative results from survey responses and qualitative results from interview script
- Created outline for result section of Final Report
- Along with 4 project teammates, presented findings to 4 consumer product stakeholders
Detailed Methodology
Recruitment: We screened a total of 55 participants through a convenience sampling of friends and family.Using a Qualtrics survey, we qualified 21 participants who identified at least two consumer products and were willing to participate. 20 participants completed the study.
Pilot Test: In order to ensure smooth participant experience, we conducted two pilot studies. We learned a few things from the pilot study, and it helped us further refined our methodology.
- We revised our demographic questions and move from pre-study interview to screener
- We provided additional explanation of study goals within our kickoff call
- We developed procedure for identifying an alternative product for participants to control for bias and the Hawthorne effect
- We developed an additional moderator guide and survey template for an unanticipated scenario
Part I: Kick off interview: Prior to the diary study, we interviewed participants about various lifestyle products they own, which allowed us to identify the product of interest for the diary study. We also onboarded the participants on the diary study and the expectations
Part II: Diary completion: We asked participants to submit up to ten entries of chosen product discussed from the kick off interview. Prompts were sent out in one to three-day intervals over the course of the study period, and participants were asked to report their recent product usage. We reminded our participants to complete entries within 12 hours of receipt.
Part III Wrap up interview with participants: We then asked participants to evaluate their use of the product of interest in a wrap-up interview. They were asked to reconsider how or if the use of the product matched their aspirations and goals for the product.
Thematic Analysis: Through multiple brainstorming meetings, we discussed and affinitized our findings about our interview and diary study responses. We identified emerging concepts as well as any quotes using Miro Board.
See sample diary study report I created from a GoPro user below
Key Findings and Recommendations
Overall, we found various factors prohibiting users from regularly using a product including battery concerns, disturbance level, time and effort of usage maintenance as well as other primary factors facilitating usage. These factors includes preconceived notions influenced by family and online reviews, novelty effects, as well as the adaptability and practicability of the product design. Of our findings, we developed the following key takeaways and recommendation –
Key Takeaway 1: Set it and forget it; added time and effort causes less and less use.
Recommendation 1: Minimize maintenance efforts for the use of the new product.
Recommendation 2: Improve battery life notification system.
Recommendation 3: Customer service as a priority.
Key Takeaway 2: Product neediness prevents adoption.
Recommendation 4: Minimize additional buys for the use of the product.
Recommendation 5: Consider utilizing direct-to-consumer subscription service.
Key Takeaway 3: Versatility is important in long-term product use.
Recommendation 6: Ensure products can be used in different contexts.
Recommendation 7: Encourage subtle exploration of different features.
Key Takeaway 4: No time for new things.
Recommendation 8: Improve accessibility by increasing portability.
Recommendation 9: Minimize time for setup and learning curve.