Unlocking personalized design with diary studies
Backed by advances in AI and machine learning, personalization and user-centric design are becoming embedded in product directions across the board. Rather than tailoring products to specific demographics, companies have started tailoring products to specific individuals, addressing their unique preferences and needs.
Personalization is poised to unlock new levels of ease, convenience, and relevance for users – that is, if it’s done right. We only have to think of our encounters with targeted advertising to see how quickly personalization can shift to being insensitive, repetitive, or downright creepy – like that time an eerily accurate Facebook ad mirrored a recent online conversation I had with a friend.
More often than not, the success or failure of personalization pivots on how well the product adapts to its user – whether that be their emotions, attitudes, or goals. In this context, research methods providing static, one-off insights fall short of capturing the entire picture. Enter diary studies: the unsung hero that invites us into users’ dynamic lives, thus allowing personalization to be just that: personal.
Diary studies: Towards a dynamic understanding of user behavior
Traditional techniques – including interviews, user testing sessions, and focus groups – remain valuable, but only provide snapshots of user preferences at a specific moment. While some experimental methods like MaxDiff and Discrete Choice Experiments let us glimpse into how users respond differently to different inputs, these methods don’t tell the full story. How would this user respond if they were hungry? When they’ve been stuck in meetings all afternoon? Or when they’ve just caught up with a good friend?
Meanwhile, diary studies are a longitudinal research method where participants systematically record their thoughts, behaviors, experiences, or other relevant information over a set period of time. In the world of product development, diary studies let us see how users interact with and respond to a product (or even a specific feature) over time and across natural changes in their environment.
Diary studies also allow us to cross the ditch from anticipated behavior to real-world actions. Instead of asking participants how they think they would respond to a certain recommendation, we can observe what really happens (at least, according to participants) and then gather multiple data points to see if this response changes over time. Since diary studies generally involve some element of self-reporting (although other methods of data collection are equally possible, but more on that later), they also capture a unique user perspective – which matters most when it comes to personalization.
References
- Floyd, I., & The Decision Lab. (2023, October 24). How much research participants want to be paid. Tremendous. https://www.tremendous.com/blog/how-much-research-incentives-pay-participants/
- Janssens, K.A.M., Bos, E.H., Rosmalen, J.G.M. et al. A qualitative approach to guide choices for designing a diary study. BMC Med Res Methodol 18, 140 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0579-6
- Kotamarthi, P. (2021, June 13). This Is Personal: The Do's and Don'ts of Personalization in Tech. The Decision Lab. https://thedecisionlab.com/insights/technology/this-is-personal-the-dos-and-donts-of-personalization-in-tech
About the Author
Caitlin Spence
Caitlin Spence is a Senior Associate at The Decision Lab. Before joining The Decision Lab she worked in Aotearoa New Zealand’s justice sector as part of a team using behavioural science to create more accessible and culturally aware systems. Caitlin is interested in using data and experimental design to understand how systems can be designed or changed to favour positive and equitable outcomes. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Statistics, from the University of Auckland.
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