On Thu, 20 Sep 2001 08:22:51 -0400, Laurel Sanford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi I found your information on a Linux communities site and since Jerry Kubeck is unfortunately unavailable at this time I was hoping you could help. We are a customer centered design firm looking for participants of various community sites to help with our project. Please read the attached and let me know if you or someone you know can help. We are very interested in meeting with Linux users because we feel that their perspectives would help us understand what makes for a great community. Thank you in advance for your time and I look forward to hearing from you. RESEARCH PROJECT: ONLINE COMMUNITIES PROJECT SUMMARY: A Software company with a community-oriented website is working in partnership with InContext Enterprises to envision the future of their on-line communities. InContext Enterprises is a leading design firm helping companies design products and processes based on a detailed, accurate understanding of their customers. We are conducting a study to understand how people use computer based communities. As part of this study we are looking for developers and IT professionals who use newsgroups, bulletin boards, chats, user groups, and other forms of community to assist them in their job or other computing interests. We would like to spend two hours with each person to understand how they access and utilize communities. During this time, we will observe users as they do their work and communicate with peers on-line. Users who assist in this study have the opportunity to influence how this website will be redesigned to grow and support communities. Participants will also get to select a free gift. SCOPE OF THE PROJECT: - Assess how Developers and IT Professionals use community as part of their work - Learn how community is used to pursue computer related interests outside work - Evaluate the peer-to-peer interactions that take place in on-line and face-to-face communities - Investigate how community can best be supported and enhanced in an on-line environment KINDS OF INTERVIEWS WE WILL BE CONDUCTING: Two hour, one-on-one observations with Developers and IT Professionals who use chatrooms, newsgroups, bulletin boards or other on-line communities in order to - stay in touch with peers, - find help in their everyday tasks, - learn new skills, - assist others, - create new contacts with people with similar interests. NATURE OF THE OBSERVATIONS: contextual interviews Two hour, one-on-one observations These interviews will be set up with users who actively participate in on-line communities. Because we want to learn about how you connect with peole on-line, we will talk with people about their activities while they do them. Interviews combine a review of past events with watching ongoing activities related to the role of the interviewee. This �shadowing� will be with participants� in the the place that they engage in these activities (work places or homes) so all their natural work activities, tools, and objects are available to stimulate memory. No one should clean up their space for the visit. While users work, we ask questions about what they are doing and why. The person we observe will get some work done, but will also be telling us about their job while they do it. We are not presenting product information. Everything seen and heard is entirely confidential. Company-specific information will be shared with no one. With your permission, audio recordings will be made of the interviews. These recordings are only used as a back up to our handwritten notes, will be entirely confidential, and be destroyed at the end of the project. *InContext has helped the high tech industry design systems and business structures through a sound, detailed knowledge of their customers since 1992. InContext delivers in-depth information about markets and business opportunities through observational analysis of the behaviors and motivations driving the market. InContext specializes in analyzing the impact of new Web and new technologies on businesses, business practice, and the evolution of markets. Learn more about InContext Enterprises: www.incent.com. Laurel Sanford User Research Administrator InContext Enterprises 2352 Main St. Suite 302 Concord, MA 01742 1-978-823-0105*123 www.incent.com _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ********************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following text in the *body* (*not* the subject line) of the letter: unsubscribe gnhlug **********************************************************
