Discovery Operations Guide

Research by Week and Day

Planning Your Research Weeks

These weeks are often quite full with all that you’re hearing, seeing, and experiencing. Research week snapshots provide you a guide for how you can space out your interviews/ observations relative to the following factors: Research Site Type, Team Size, Transition Time needed, and Daily and Weekly Synthesis time blocks.

Use the week snapshots as guides to help realistically space out and plan your research events for an effective and productive site visit.

Remember to consistently record and organize your schedules you can review and evolve your plan.

Framework - Planning Research Weeks

Use this framework as a model planning your research by week.

Basic framework for scheduling research weeks.

Planning Your Research Days

Research day snapshots provide guidance for planning your daily research events. Days in the field move fast, so it’s important to give yourself ample time for preparation, downloading and transitioning.

While booking interviews with participants and observation time, consider:

  • Transition/ Meal/ Prep Time: Essential down time between each interview or observation will enable you to mentally transition from what you just learned and to prepare for the next.

  • Daily and Weekly Synthesis: Allocating daily download time will enable you to absorb what you’re learning, while it’s fresh, and reduce your mental load during weekly synthesis. This will also allow you to adjust your protocol based on what you’re learning.

Framework - Planning Research Days

Use this framework as a model planning your research by day.

Basic framework for scheduling research days.