Diary Study

[lindsayboylan]

What

Diary studies ask participants to keep a log of thoughts and experiences. This can be used to analyze behavior around a specific product or process, or a glimpse into other activities they do in the "real world."

Why

Diary studies are used to gather contextual understanding about end-users.

When

Diary studies are helpful in the generative research phase. They can be difficult and complex to facilitate. They can be very time-consuming and costly. We can use diary studies when we aim to explore long-term behavior in "real life" when we could not otherwise follow along on this journey with a user.

How

General research study steps
At a high level:

1. Planning
2. Onboarding
3. Monitoring
4. Debriefing
5. Analysis

When planning for a research study, decide which logistics make the most sense for your study:

• Handwritten or electronic?
• Free-form or structured?
• Interval-contingent, signal-contingent, or event-contingent?

Pro Tips

• Dscout can be a great tool for diary studies, but it's possible to use other, more generic, software as well:
  • Slack
  • Survey Software (Google Forms, Typeform, etc)
  • Instagram
• Diary studies can be unreliable as they often feel unnatural to users and require self-reported data. Make sure you consider your user-group and weigh the pros and cons of using this method before spending time/money on this endeavor.

Helpful Reads

• User Interview's Guide to Diary Studies