5 Real-World Ways to Use Online Journaling
The beauty of online journaling is the ability to follow a participant’s interactions, thoughts and feelings over a period of time. There are many, many uses. Here are some unique, effective ways 20|20 Technology clients have used QualJournal, our easy-to-use, flexible and cost-effective online journaling platform.
1. Product Testing: Spread out over three weeks, participants journaled their experiences with two types of diapers and then participated in a bulletin board focus group to discuss their results. In week 1, participants used one type of diapers and were asked to detail their diaper changing experiences by uploading images of the diaper and explaining how the diapers stood up to wear. In the second week, participants repeated the process but with a different type of diaper. Week 3 moved to QualBoard our bulletin board focus group platform, for discussion between the participants about their ideas and experiences with the various products.
2. Exploratory: In one QualJournal project, participants were asked to keep a ‘sports journal’ split into four categories: watching, listening, reading and talking. Anytime the participant did any of these things related to sports, they would journal about it. The client got to know the participants in-depth and how they relate to sports and sports related activities. In a sense, this method was a “spot ethnography” — an ethnography related to a particular subject at different times.
3. Homework: After completing an in-person focus group about energy use, participants were asked to use an online journal to detail how they use energy. There was also a pre-focus group assignment that asked participants to explore advertisements and explain which ads impacted the way they think about energy conservation. The information gleaned greatly increased the data gathered and insights related to the category.
4. Usability testing: Instead of hosting the traditional series of in-person focus group sessions, a weight loss program used 12-week immersive online journals, asking participants for daily product use feedback with photo and video uploads. The company was able to capture daily ups and downs for a full three months as opposed to checking in with participants once a week. The picture/video feedback provided a rich understanding of the participant’s experience and how they incorporated the program into their lives.
5. Immersive research: Talk about having trouble getting your participants in one room—let alone the same state. For an immersive research project on travel, participants logged in each day and uploaded the details about their trip. They posted images of everything from road signs to hotel rooms. Impressions, feelings and images were fresh since participants recorded them daily along the way. The method provided rich insights that would have been extremely difficult and expensive using other methods.
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