Customer & User Observation
Observing your customers and users in a real situation reveals things a conversation never will. This page covers the key elements and how to execute it.
1. Overview
Social roles, habits and subconscious behaviour are often easier to observe than to ask about. Observation reveals what your customers and users do without realising it themselves. A close look at the situation gives you new ideas and helps you test the assumptions you already made about them. Follow the steps in Discovering Customers & Users to set up, run and review your research the right way.
2. Key Elements
Element | Comment |
Situation | Describe the situation: location, date, time, people involved, environment, room setup, available tools, and your role (participatory, open, or hidden observation). |
Person(s) | Capture relevant demographic information about the person(s) you observe, for example age, role, clothing style, or mood. |
Customer journey | Take notes on each step of the customer journey in the situation, plus pictures or videos if possible. Observe on three levels:
Combine your observation with a Customer & User Interview right after. Discuss what you saw and ask about it — this helps you understand the reasons and motivations behind the behaviour. You can also talk through the emotions you noticed, find their triggers, and see what consequences the person faces. |
3. Usage Scenarios
Understanding customers & users to come up with new ideas in the Design Workshop
Explore antilogs from your Hypotheses & Experiments template about your customers' and users' behaviour and emotions in a specific situation
4. Instructions for Coaches
Make sure Team Members run the field study themselves. First-hand impressions help them advocate for their customers throughout the End-to-End Innovation Process.
Help your team prepare an observation guideline based on the key elements in this article. Define the customer journey steps in advance — this keeps their notes specific and useful.
Help your team document the results in a visual way. In addition to pictures and videos, Personas or Customer & User Cards capture your results well.
5. Q & A
I don't have access to the situation where I want to observe our customers and users. What shall I do? Maybe you could combine a Customer & User Interview with an observation to get access. Schedule an interview and ask to observe them, e.g. while using a product, before you discuss the process — the customer journey — in the main part of the interview.
How to find "Golden Nuggets"? Watch out for emotions — they're usually your trigger to dig deeper. This is another reason why combining an observation with an interview works so well: it lets you discuss the emotions you noticed afterwards and understand what's behind them.