Here’s an overview of diary studies, and their usefulness as a long-term user research method.
A diary study gathers together information about a user experience over an extended period of time (or longitudinally as you may hear it described in other places where they like big words).
Participants write about their experiences with a particular product or service in a diary.
They may also take photos or perform other activities to record their experiences. Once the study period is over, the researcher analyses the findings.
A diary study is a qualitative research method, so the findings will be based on thoughts, feelings and observable behaviour rather than numerical data.
The longer period of time and the changing context of the user differentiates this method from other tests like surveys or labs, which record behaviours based on one specific moment in time, within a single context.
Diary studies remove the influence of both the researcher and the unnatural out-of-home setting, but they’re also useful for understanding long-term behaviour.
According to NN/g, these long-term behaviours can include:
All really helpful, and best of all, in-depth and genuinely contextual findings.
A diary study can last as long as your project needs. So anywhere from two days to two months. Basically whatever best fits the purpose of the product you’re testing.
“Dear Diary, I couldn’t think of anything interesting to write, so here’s some lorem ipsum”
“Dear Diary, today I will find out who keeps taking gigantic bites out of my croissants and I will end them, so help me god”
During the test period, participants are asked to keep a diary and write down specific information about the activities they’ve been asked to carry out.
UX mastery recommends the user takes photos to explain their activities and highlight things that stood out to them across the course of their day.
According to Carine Lallemand, writing on UPXA, there are three categories by which entries can be collected:
The rate and timing of how people ‘self-report’ should be set up according to research needs. Lallemand suggests not being too demanding or the diary will become a “burden to your participants” – a maximum of two to three entries per day should be enough.
The structure of the diary can be open (the tester records entries in their own words) or highly structured (where closed-ended questions are predetermined). It’s up to you how precise you want the information to be.
There are electronic tools available for people to record their findings in a variety of multimedia ways (text, image, voice recordings), but it’s a good idea to discuss with your participants what method they’d be most comfortable with based on your own testing needs.
UX manager and columnist Peter Hornsby recommended a simple pen and paper approach in his recent AMA:
“I’m not aware of many technology platforms for diary studies; I’ve tended to use just written feedback in whatever format the participant is most comfortable.” Also bear in mind that “if you have to introduce a platform which itself has a learning curve, it can add an additional level of complexity to the process and can colour the client’s experience.”
“Dear Diary, nothing interesting to report today so I’ll share with you my quarterly sales figures”
Post-study interview: here you can plan a follow-up conversation with the participant and discuss the specific details of the study. You’ll be able to clarify any ambiguous details (illegible handwriting issues, for instance). You can also ask for feedback from the user, which you can use to improve the process for future participants.
Data analysis: NN/g recommends “taking a deep breath” before diving into the vast amount of qualitative data and think about the following questions when evaluating their behaviours: how do they evolve and change over time? What influences these behaviours?
Then you can build a customer journey map to help understand the entire user experience from the perspective of your participant.