The Usability R.A.C.E. (Rolling Accelerated Contextual Examination)

Free instructions and downloadable materials

This activity is offered free of charge for your use in educational settings or World Usability Day events.

On this page: Activity Summary | Learning Goals | Preparation | Setup | Moderating

Activity Summary

Description:

Activity participants are sent out into the world to interview passersby and conduct field-based observations of persons interacting with technology. For example, individuals might interview travelers at a train station about the usability of their cell phones, the station's ticket kiosks, or the readability of travel tickets. The goals are to practice conducting field research and to collect data that may be used to improve public services or products.

This activity gets its name because team members may vary throughout the day- one team of field interviewers might hand off their data to another group to examine, and both teams might involve the public or other practitioners in brainstorming design improvements based on data findings. This "rolling" activity enables multiple persons to participate throughout the day, without burdening any one group with a full day activity.

Ideally, brainstorming sessions and findings demonstrations will be made public either as "open format" focus groups or lectures.

Professionals and novices benefitted from the opportunity to learn or hone field-research skills.

Activity type:

Multi-stage: Field research, group discussion, public brainstorming

Good for:

Practitioners or novices of all ages

Requires:

Intercept interview or observation protocol/tally sheets, data capture equipment

Minimum activity time:

2 hours-4 hours

Docents/Moderators:

one group leader per R.A.C.E. team of field researchers

Equipment:

Clipboard or portable writing surface for each participant
Stopwatch for each participant (as appropriate)
Tally sheets/observation protocols (see below)
Writing implement for each participant
Several reams of three-hole-punched blank paper
"D" rings or binder clips to bind tally sheet pads
(optional) Brainstorming aids such as sticky pads, blank paper, writing implements
(optional) A pre-formatted blank PowerPoint presentation to which each R.A.C.E. team can contribute its findings
(optional) Computer for compiling teams' findings into a presentation
(optional) Computer and LCD projector for making findings visible to the listening public

Downloadable files:

RACE CellPhone Tally Sheet.doc (92K MS Word)
Wayfinding Protocol (Signage evaluations) (63K MS Word)

Learning goals

Phase I: (Field research: 1-2 hours) To encourage individuals to learn or practice field research techniques such as intercept interviewing, field observation skills primarily. Phase 2: (Data compliation: 1-2 hours) To learn or practice data compilation and findings organization techniques. Phase 3: (Findings presentation/Brainstorming: 1-2 hours) To engage practitioners and the public in an examination of the day's findings for the purpose of sharing data, experiences, and brainstorming solutions to identified problems. In Boston we conducted this session successfully in an interview/open focus group format where a moderator interviewed each R.A.C.E. team about their experiences while members of the public watched and asked questions.

Activity Preparation

Identify approximately three topics suitable for field study. For example: "interviewing people about how easy or difficult their cell phones are to use," "evaluating the readability of train tickets with travelers," and "observing persons using self-checkout machines in grocery stores."
Draft tally sheets/interview protocols for the field research you intend to do
Finalize materials and print double-sided on three-hole-punched paper
Cut the individual tally sheets in half through the middle hole of the three-hole punched paper and bind them (optional) with a book ring, "d" ring, ribbon or string.
Identify a location where field research R.A.C.E. teams can return to after their field research is complete to sit comfortably and discuss their findings, such as a table and chairs for each team
Identify a forum where members of the public may observe/participate in data compression activities and findings presentations, such as places at the discussion tables or a lecture hall

Activity Setup

Prepare individual packets of field research equipment (clipboard, tally sheet pad, writing implement, stopwatch) for each participant
Prepare seating areas and tables for when field research teams return

Activity Moderation

This activity supports group activity, and seems to work best when field researchers are in small groups, data compilation is done in medium sized groups, and findings presentation is done in one large group

Beginning the R.A.C.E. (Phase 1: Field Research)

Gather activity participants in a common area and hand out field research materials
Divide participants into groups of two-to-four persons according to the protocol they will follow
Orient groups to the locations where they will conduct their research (ideally within walking distance from other World Usability Day activities), safety guidelines, provide emergency contact information, provide area maps (as appropriate)
Send the groups "out into the world" for 1-2 hours to conduct their field research.

Compressing the Data (Phase 2: Data Compliation)

When individual R.A.C.E. teams return, invite them to select a table and begin to examine the data they have collected.
Encourage each group to identify key findings, lessons learned, and interesting anecdotes from their experiences
Encourage each group to document these findings either in a written document, or ideally a brief set of electronic slides that can be combined with other groups' findings
Encourage teams to have lunch (as appropriate)
When teams have completed their data analysis, the event moderator may join their table and "interview" the team about their experiences using the Moderator's script. Moderators might take this time to create slides/summary information if the team has not had time to do so
Invite visitors and the public to observe these interviews

Sharing the Data (Phase 3: Findings Presentation/Brainstorming)

When individual R.A.C.E. teams have been interviewed, invite all teams to the public forum where they may share their field research methodoglogies, experiences, lessons learned, and findings with other practitioners and the general public
We suggest giving each team (or if teams did identical research, representatives) 10-15 minutes to summarize their activity
Encourage the audience and the R.A.C.E. teams to brainstorm solutions to identified problems or to discuss the topics at hand.

Enhancements/Variations

In Boston, MA we found that individuals enjoyed the field research tremendously and found it to be a valuable learning experience. We also found that the public, even if they had not been a part of the field research phase, found the interview/open focus group and findings presentation phases to be extremely interesting. All phases of the activity were well received.

Tips & Tricks

When you create your "pads" of tally sheets, if you keep the individual activity sheets facing the same way, a moderator only needs to flip the pad over to run a second type of field research activity. Protocol/interview script 1 on the front, protocol/interview script 2 on the back.