How to Switch to Remote Research: 5 Steps for a Smooth Transition
COVID-19 has caused many changes to our plans, our lifestyles, and of course our work. Our team was in the middle of our project’s discovery phase when social distancing began. This unexpected circumstance forced us to re-evaluate our research plan, so we decided to share our journey and some of our learnings.
What is remote research?
Remote research is any research in which participants and researchers do not interact in-person, face-to-face. It is typically conducted via a computer or a phone, allowing use of video-conferencing or screen sharing technologies.
1- Find your silver lining
There is always a positive side to every situation. For our project, switching from in-field interviews to remote meetings meant that we could schedule multiple interviews on the same day. Saving time while working on a project with a tight timeline was a win worth acknowledging. Also, our plan was always to do inclusive research and this change helped us look at things from a new perspective and include more users.
2- Acknowledge your challenges
It’s important to acknowledge both the new challenges you face as a researcher and the new challenges your users are facing.
When switching to remote research the first question was “Will we be able to get the same results?” Some users might feel more comfortable speaking in person than over the phone. Video meetings seemed like a good in between, but not all of our users were comfortable with that option. We realized we would have to consider different tools for different users.
We also knew that some of the Growers and Crop Consultants that we would be speaking to work in areas with poor internet access or cell coverage. To be prepared for all of our users’ challenges, we needed to have a plan B in case something failed.
Moreover, being new to the agricultural sector, we were relying on in-field interviews to help better understand the tools and processes used by our users. This changed the structure of our interviews, adding more specific follow-up questions after the mostly open-ended questions we had originally written, to make sure we collected as much detail as possible.
3- Adjust your research plan
So far, you’ve taken a step back and thought through the pros and cons of your new situation. Now, you are ready to make changes to your research plan. Your research goals shouldn’t change but your method and approach should. Here are some suggestions:
• Start the conversation with an ice breaker to make sure the user feels comfortable with sharing moving forward (while always good advice, this becomes especially important when remote)
• Be transparent with your users by mentioning the challenges you expect. You can say something like “I know that not everyone is as comfortable on the phone. To help our research, please share as much as you can including your thoughts and feelings.”
• Add follow-up questions to open ended ones (like the example above)
• Provide your users with 2 remote options when possible, such as a video meeting or a phone call
• Ask your users to speak to you from a quiet room if possible
• Ask your users to use their headphones. Holding the phone for half an hour or longer will hurt the users’ arm and they might hurry to end the conversation for that reason. It will also help you to get rid of the echo that a speaker may cause, so you can have a noiseless interview and a good quality for your recording
4- Test, test and test some more
Write a list of the tools you will need and start testing to see what best suits you and your users. Here are some of the tools that our team used:
• Zoom and Google Hangouts for video meetings
• Work conference line and Google Hangouts for phone interviews
• Quicktime Player and Otter for audio recording
• Otter for converting audio to text and for storing audio recordings
• Calendly for scheduling meetings. It’s a great tool as you can sync it to your Google, Outlook, Office 365 or iCloud calendar; you can send one link to all of your users
Although we tested all of our tools, we made sure to include dial-in phone numbers in case we ran into any technical difficulties. Also, don’t forget to send your users clear instructions ahead of time on how to install a certain app if needed.
5- Be open to more changes
Don’t get too attached to your research plan; it is meant to be a living document that is updated if necessary. These updates are considered improvements to help you reach the answers you are looking for.
Conclusion
- Find your silver lining and use it to your advantage.
- Acknowledge your challenges to better prepare for them
- Change your research method and approach
- Find the right tools for your research by testing them first
- Be open to updating your research plan
