How to Collect the Information you Need
We’ve told you How to Start that Big Development Project, but we haven’t told you how to go and find all that information we say you need!
The two main ways you can collect the information you need is through observation or elicitation both of which can be either direct or indirect.
Observation
Direct - Go to the work site and watch people doing their jobs! Try and not be too creepy about it so you don’t make people feel uncomfortable.
Indirect - Set up audio and video recording devices in the work place and set up software to record keystrokes and log information. Obviously it is unethical to spy on people, so please make sure you tell your users when they are being watched and have them sign a consent form.
Elicitation
Direct - Conduct interviews or organize focus groups.
Indirect - Consult corporate documentation and have users respond to questionnaires. Don’t make big long boring questionnaires because people will hurt themselves smacking their head against a wall out of frustration.
Are there other ways to collect information? Definitely! Please let us know how you go about doing it and we will link up to your article!
July 13th, 2007 at 7:32 am
[...] conducting interviews if you are interested in Web Development? Interviews are one method to help Collect the Information you Need in order to Start that Big Development [...]