Field Plan and Interviews

Before interviewing your client or ‘entering the field’ it’s not always possible to sit down and conduct extensive desktop research. However, there should always be time to think of a field plan before starting the interview. Having a field plan can help you to get the most out of collecting primary data.

Example applications

A field plan is particularly useful when working in a team that requires a visit to a client or community (such as your group project). It’s a chance to think through the logistics of the visit, and identify who in the team will take on which role, and what outcomes you hope to achieve.

Steps

A field plan for an interview is best constructed as a group.

1. Conduct desktop research ahead of meeting with your client. Understand the organisation that your client represents, and look for examples from other organisations in the field.
2. Check to find out how many people should come to the meeting, and then identify roles in your team. One person could take on the role of interviewer, note-taker, observer, introductions/thankyous etc).
3. Plan to start your interview by asking open-ended questions, not digging out specifics. When you start by asking specifics. Open-ended questions, or ‘why’ questions, can open up avenues of inquiry far richer than you could have planned.
4. If you have the opportunity, ask questions that allow the interviewee to describe a process, such as “how do you normally fix the water pump?” rather than assuming that your interviewee does it the same way you would. Even better, get them to show you.
5. Always make sure that you end the interview by saying thank you. If appropriate, a small, relevant gift might be appropriate (such as an ANU bookmark, etc).
6. Download your learnings shortly after the visit while the information is still fresh in your mind.

Hints

• Be conscious of the time that you spend with your client - make sure that they know how long you will have, and be mindful not to exceed this time
• Remember that an field trip or interview is a discovery learning trip, and so try to keep your mind as open as possible to all sorts of design opportunities
• Practice asking questions with friends and family.

Core resources

• IDEO.org’s Field Guide to Human-Centred Design has a great section on Individual, Group and Expert interviews. The plan above has been assimilated from this resource. [Online or section as PDF]
• Medecins Sans Frontiers, A Guide to Using Qualitative Research Methodology [Online or as PDF]. Particularly relevant is section 3 (pp11-21){: .link-ext target=”_blank” }, which discusses interview techniques for generating data