Dear Diary… An ode to Diary Studies

An ode to my favorite research method

Because I’m a fan of the method, I’ve written this article as an ode to Diary studies. I’ll give you three take-aways and reflect on how powerful it was. It changed the mindset within the organization and even had an emotional impact on myself. But first, let’s start with what a typical diary study is.

Instead of doing an interview, you prepare people with a physical diary with prompts. Since they thought about the subject beforehand, they provide deeper and more meaningful answers during the interview.

I used this method for a delicate topic about our customers’ experience when a loved one passes away. This diary study makes it easier for them to talk about a difficult topic. It also allows us to conduct open-ended explorations of people’s feelings and emotions.

Three lessons learned

#1 – The booklet
I wanted to make something that people felt like they could doodle on, make them curious, and stimulate their thinking. I wanted them to use it and fill in their own answers.

One of the ways to do that is to make it as accessible as possible:

• explain the purpose;
• tell them that no answer is right or wrong;
• and leave questions open for their own interpretation.

The booklet had five assignments, and the package included a paper sheet of words, a metaphor for how to display the bank, and a timeline of their journey. The booklet itself didn’t look fancy or neat. All this was designed on purpose; to make them feel comfortable using it.

User’s feedback when using the booklet with the word sheet: “It helped me to find words about my emotions. There were ones that I didn’t think about immediately”

It’s important to make each assignment tangible (for example, by using a sticker sheet). Having something physical to create stimulates people to think about why they choose a specific answer. This is a thinking process for them too; which emotion is most applicable for me, and why?

#2 – Let them interpret the questions
One of the topics was to draw a timeline with past, current, and future. I simply posed the question: describe your process and use the sticker sheet (if desired). I assumed that people would fill in their own steps.

Since my question was broad, it was very surprising how people interpreted it. Instead of practical steps, they all described their emotional journey.

User’s feedback: “I didn’t understand which process you meant because it’s an emotional process of grieving. So I filled it in like that, if that’s ok?”

It gave a beautiful and realistic picture of how people deal with their personal situation.

# 3 – Use a metaphor to make different connections
The last topic that surprised me was the use of a metaphor. I gave them an overview of different animals and asked them how they describe the role of the bank in an animal. I was hesitant to use this at first, because it might feel childish and perhaps even something that people wouldn’t take seriously enough.

But surprisingly everyone was very clear which animal they referred to and why. During the interview, they explained their chosen animal by sharing personal experiences with the bank. The metaphor helped to have a richer conversation about the role of the bank and people’s expectations towards it.

User’s feedback: “It was actually fun to do this exercise, the metaphor made it easier to answer”

Richer insights lead to better explorations, and suitable solutions!

When I started this project, I thought; well, diary studies are just my way to understand the customer better. I saw it as part of the rest of the research; I make the diary, conduct the interviews, document the insights, and continue optimizing the journey.

But instead, it led to so much more space to explore new things. I showed it to the rest of the design team and the stakeholders, which opens up conversations. One of my stakeholders even said that by putting so much effort in the diary study, it shows how important we as an organization find this topic.

This made me realize how large your influence as a designer is, with genuine curiosity as starting point. As an organization, we learned that we need more time to deep dive in research by using more of these methods to really understand our users.

So the next time you need to explore a deeper understanding of your users, I challenge you to do a diary study. You’ll be surprised by all the insights!