My talk on Remote Research from the 2010 IxD10 conference in Savannah.

1. REMOTE DESIGN RESEARCH
INTERACTION 10

3. I’M NATE BOLT

4. I’M NATE BOLT
ROBOTIC DOG TREATS

5. I’M NATE BOLT
ROBOTIC DOG TREATS
DINOSAUR EXPLAINS IA

6. 10 YEARS
234 STUDIES
2,815 PARTICIPANTS (MODERATED)
89 ORGANIZATIONS
19,120 HOURS

7. #ixd10 #Remote

9. 7
#ixd10 #Remote

10. SO ANYWAY WHAT’s UP WITH YOU?
Have you conducted remote testing before?
Biggest concern (about remote silly)?

11. THE REMOTE
DESIGN RESEARCH
SITUATION

14. DESIGN RESEARCH
CONCEPT ETHNOGRAPHY
TESTING
PERSONA
SURVEYS
DEVELOPMENT
IDEATION
NEEDS
GAME BASED ASSESSMENT
ELICITATION

15. Remote Research
In person
Remote
Definition:
Research where the
participant is not
sharing physical space
with the researcher.
% of qualitative research
done remotely*
*Source: BP’s best guess

16. THE WHOLE
REMOTE
PART OF THIS

17. When does remote win?

18. Native Environment
Cheap ethnography, not cheap lab.

19. Real Time
Allows self-motivated tasks.

20. I’ll trade you time
for physical presence

21. Involved Observers
Easier to collaborate in real time.

22. Geography

23. When does remote fail?

24. Bandwidth
Yes, it’s an issue.

25. Translation
It’s expensive and difficult to do live.

26. Minors
Consent is a bear.
Especially if they’re under 13.

27. Faces
Most users don’t have webcams.
Webcams are a little invasive.

28. Designing
REMOTE STUDIES

29. TIME-AWARE Tasks
Told to find purple pumps. Has to wear this for sister’s wedding this
weekend.
Doesn’t care.
Whole different interview.

30. Real Time OBservers

32. Portable Research

33. Change on the fly
“No one seems engaged in the laptop customizer”
“Let’s add questions about who they get recommendations from”

35. prototypes, wireframes,
Sketches = heck yes

36. TOOLS

39. Usabilla
Clicks & Questions
Heatmaps
You do your own recruiting
$49 - $199

41. Loop11 (un-moderated)

44. PlainFrame SNEAK PREVIEW

47. Communication
phone Skype / VOIP
Reliable Cheap or free
Can be expensive Harder for users
for international Can combine with
Conference calls screensharing to
needed for stress user’s
observers connection
The Past The Future

48. Screen-sharing
Standalone Integrated
Adobe Connect UserVue
LiveLook
WebEx
GoToMeeting

49. Adobe Acrobat Connect - $39/mo

50. Recording Tools
Hardware Software
Phone Patch Camtasia (Windows)
Cables iShowU HD (Mac)

51. Recruiting
FOR REMOTE

52. Recruiting Options
realness
Grab someone in the hallway
Grab someone who isn’t directly involved in
your project
IM your friends for a quick look
Panels and recruiting agencies
Real customers from marketing lists
Site intercepts

53. Gold Standard
Live recruiting
Get as close as you can

54. Recruiting Options
Ethnio
Links or house ads to online forms
Recruiting agencies
Customer email lists
Panels
Craigslist/online ads

55. use Ethnio when
Website access
Some budget
Quotas are relatively simple

56. use forms when
You can place a link but not code
Low budget
Quotas are relatively complex
Options:
Google Docs
Wufoo

57. use Agencies when
No website access
People whine about first-time visitors
Higher budget
Online recruiting failed

58. Customer lists
Sub-segments
Ownership requirements
No website access

59. PANELS

60. Craigslist
When other methods don’t work
No dough
Takes a while
Embarrassing to admit to your friends

61. Live Recruiting Math
Target: 6 recruits/hour
Allow for: 1% response (low average)
You Need: 8-10,000 uniques/day

64. Paying Incentives
Collect minimal
personal info
Deliver quickly
Appropriate for
location

65. HOW TO BE
graceful
When All Your
TECHNOLOGY
BREAKS

66. What they worry about

67. WHO ARE YOU AND CAN I
TRUST YOU?

68. IF YOU CAN SEE MY SCREEN,
CAN YOU SEE MY FACE?

69. WILL YOU BE ABLE TO TAKE
CONTROL OF MY COMPUTER?

70. WILL YOU HELP ME GET THE
PLUG IN
OFF MY COMPUTER AT THE END?

71. WILL THIS WORK IF I HAVE A
FIREWALL/PROXY/STRICT IT
DEPARTMENT?

72. IS THIS GOING TO END UP ON
YOUTUBE?

73. Advanced Techniques
High Emotions

74. OXYMORON?
Remote empathy

75. hybrid studies
Numbers actually do lie sometimes
And they don’t tell you the why
3-5 remote interviews is all you need

76. mobile Research?

77. Advanced Techniques
One to many moderation
Multi-threading

78. Burn the script
Find out what matters.

79. The Future

80. remoteusability.com

83. @boltron