PHOTO DIARIES

Innovation Tools Series

A short guide to

By asking customers (or not yet customers) to take photos of things about themselves and

during their day...

...you get a unique look at the inside of their lives and can develop deep insights about them

1. What did you have for breakfast?2. What did you wash your hair with?3. How did you get to work?4. What’s your favourite thing to do on the weekend?5. What’s the most important gadget in your life?6. Who is the most important person in your life?

For example, you could say...

Your research could be focused on their personal life or leisure time

Please take a photo of your answers to the following questions...

1. The time I got to work...2. My favorite thing about where I work...3. The most frustrating thing about my work...4. Where I’d like to go on holiday...5. What I do during my lunch break...6. I love this piece of equipment...7. What my desk looks like at the end of the day...

Or set a them a photo challenge...

Your research could relate to their work (or both work and personal time)

So how do you make photo diaries happen?

Define your research target market or segment1

Agree what you want to discover and explore2

Recruit volunteers in the right segment3

Provide your volunteers with equipment and clear instructions on what you’d like them to do

4

Let them get on with the task or check in to see if they are getting on ok and if they need any help

5

Collect all the data and images back for analysis6

This is my best friend and her cat...

Arrange an online or in-person interview regarding the images to get the full story behind them

7

Learn your little heart out! 8

Well done

Good Effort!

You can do this low tech or high tech

(It’s about deciding what works best for your participants)

Disposable camera

Loaned Digital Camera

Text a photo topic each day and get an MMS back

Old School

New school

Simple video camera

Use own camera then

upload images to website

Upload

Your customers notice things they wouldn’t

otherwise tell you about or remember

Photo diaries reduce self-reporting bias

Photo diaries create a tangible immersion into the participant’s world

The activity creates more insightful conversations

—both with participants and about your findings

You have opportunity to see the world through your customers’ eyes

Why use photo diaries?

When to use photo diaries

Where there are language barriers

—photos speak louder than words, you just need to

translate your instructions

When you want to create a different kind of engagement both during and after the

research project

As a precursor to interviews and focus groups for deeper

discussion and insights

When you need visual inspiration

When you want input on brand

direction

When you want to collect potential

marketing content

When you want to see the world through someone else’s eyes

Say Cheese!

STOCKERPARTNERSHIP

The Stocker Partnership

is a strategic innovation

consultancy

We help organisations to

create and exploit new

opportunities

024 76 100 193

hello@stockerpartnership.com

Matt Stocker

Debbie Stocker

www.stockerpartnership.com

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Illustrations by Stina Jones (stinajones.co.uk), and Matt Stocker