An introduction to qualitative research.

1. Human Centered Design
Quality over Quantity
A guide to getting the most out of your field research.

2. Before you begin, make sure that you…
… use your time effectively.
Select your participants based on your current understanding of your target group.
… don’t pay your participants.
You want your participants to give you genuine answers, not to tell you what they
think you want to hear because you’re paying them.
… remain curious and refrain from assuming.
Qualitative research is not about finding out the truth, it’s about gaining a deep
understanding your target group.

3. Interviewing 101
Breaking the ice
Try to find an original way to initiate your conversations. A playful ice breaker will put
your interviewees in a good mood, thus ensuring that they will be more likely to open up
to you. If, however, this does not fit your research, having genuine conversations should
always be your goal.
Laddering
In order to gain a deep understanding of your target group, you will need to ask deep
questions. This may be too confronting for some, laddering can be used to guide your
interviewee deeper into his thoughts, without feeling overwhelmed. This consists in
starting questions which are easier to answer, and gradually getting closer to their
beliefs and core values by asking appropriate follow up questions.
Not too broad, not too specific
Ideally, you want to have a broad overview of your target group, so your field research
should not focus solely on the specific issue you’re investigating. At the same time, try
to stick to topics which still relate to your central goal. The challenge is then to find the
perfect balance between the two. This may take a few interviews to get right.

4. Extracting data
Carefully sift through the interviews, notes and recordings you gathered
and collect those elements (quotes, pictures, video clips…) which stand
out the most to you. Give this some time: like when panning for gold,
your “golden nuggets” may not be visible straight away!

5. Data analysis
Now that you’ve got all your meaningful data, it’s time to start making
sense of it. Analyze your golden nuggets and choose the best way to
organize your findings. A good first step is to cluster your data into
subgroups. You will probably start to see patterns emerging.

6. Formulating insights
Your next challenge is turning your data into
insights, nice gold bars to present to your
client. This can be achieved in various ways,
choose the one that best suits your research.
There are many tools which you can use in
order to help you in formulating your insights,
but the most important element in extracting
meaningful conclusions is empathy. Always
try to empathize with your target group: dig
deep into their beliefs and drives behind their
behaviors.
Your insights can be used to either carry out
more research, or to come up with
recommendations for your client.