The coffee shop is one version of the man on the street approach, which can be done on the subway, in the park etc. It does take some gumption, but more than that it takes the feeling that this HAS to be done. Once you convince yourself you have no other choice, you will get it done.
I will stake a place out for a bit and get comfortable (and caffeinated). When I decide it is time to perform, I choose a target mostly on gut (in addition to visible target user characteristics) and follow the three second rule: decide if they are a good candidate in 3 seconds or move on. If you observe carefully, you can tell if someone is more or less likely to be in a relaxed and flexible mood. Just straight to the point "Hi, my name is X, and I am designing X. I need feedback from everyday people like you to help make it better. If you'll go through it with me for ten minutes while you drink your coffee, I'll buy your coffee." If they say yes, bring them to your table. The approach is often awkward, and you will certainly hear a lot of 'no', but the outcome is rewarding. You can do a couple people here and there without much issue, but if you plan to spend hours there, you might talk to management. Sometimes getting a pair of people is also fun. It is easier with mobile apps. Having a camera-person (in public spaces) to make it more like a news interview can help people 'get it'. -Jesse __________________ Jesse S. Zolna, Ph.D. ________________________________ From: Jason Robb <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2009 10:32:24 AM Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Research methods when you only have 2-3 hours or 2-3 days Todd et al., Awesome! I'm so glad you asked this question... The current state of my company culture allows me literally no time for testing people outside of our organization. So when we want to test some new idea, we usually try it on our own internal resources, student advisers and the dev team. Recruiting in a coffee shop is an awesome idea. I wonder if I could get the gumption to try it. What does this process look like? "Hey I'll buy your coffee if you try our site, it'll take 10 minutes"... a lot of people are going for coffee to break. How successful has this method been for you, Jesse? Cheers, Jason R. -- Jason Robb Experience Design & Implementation http://jasonrobb.com http://uxboston.com http://uiscraps.tumblr.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=43514 ________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________ 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
