Julian, My first impression is that this is a fantastic idea! There's nothing like actually *doing* a job to understand what it's like for the person. Just remember that your perspective - as someone who'll get to walk away at the end of the day(s) or week - will still be somewhat different from the person who makes their living from it.
I've never actually undertaken this type of research; only gone so far as contextual inquiry and observation. The only time I've done something similar is by undertaking job interviews to learn how better to conduct them for my own company :) Regards Steve 2009/1/22 Julez <[email protected]> > Hi, > > Does anyone out there have the experience of actually performing a given > job > (for at least a day or three, perhaps longer) as a means of really > researching context, tasks etc.? Specifically, I am thinking of an > enterprise context, where the user doesn't have choice in tools, workflow > and there are some highly developed skills (ie more than the basic web > skills of an e-commerce user). Also, I am contrasting this approach to > on-site observation, empathic modeling and user role playing. > > For example, working in a call center as a first line telephone customer > care agent. Sitting down with call center agent, getting some basic > training and having that person watch your back to prevent major > catastrophes, You answer calls, use the system(s) to retrieve and enter > information etc., essentially it is you performing the job. > > This was something I though of proposing ages ago when I wanted to analyze > and model the work of a particular type of system analyst. It never came to > fruition (due mainly to technical skills gap, but also legal issues with > outsider using systems) and I ended up doing standard contextual > observations. It was great for insight into high-level aspects of the > product and job that had issues (most of which we were already aware of) > but > not much nuance. > > It is inspired by a story I heard (circa 2001?) about a financial analyst > getting a job at an Amazon.com warehouse as a means of gauging their > likelihood of hitting/exceeding their numbers. > > There are a myriad of reasons not to do this, namely resource/time > constraints, but I am curious to see if other IxDers, particularly those > with a research bent have experience with this and could provide some input > on how it compares to CI. Of course input from people with no experience > is also welcome. > > What context was this performed in? (Real vs. Realistic Simulation) > > Did you have some basic, prior understanding of the domain? > > Did you do training? > > What did you call it? (methodology) > > Was it disruptive to work setting? > > Does it provide a level of insight worth the time/hassle of setting it up? > > > Cheers, > Julian > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [email protected] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > -- Steve 'Doc' Baty | Principal | Meld Consulting | P: +61 417 061 292 | E: [email protected] | Twitter: docbaty | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stevebaty Blog: http://docholdsfourth.blogspot.com Contributor - UXMatters - www.uxmatters.com UX Book Club: http://uxbookclub.org/ - Read, discuss, connect. ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
