Want to Understand Human Experience, Take the 3rd Rock from the Sun Approach

I’m sure I’m not the first to make this comparison, but I probably am the first to refer to it in about a decade…I was watching the very first episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun. You remember, the show with John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston, and a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt where a family of aliens from another planet come to earth to study humans. They take the form of humans and place themselves in a family situation with jobs, school, etc. The sitcom is driven by their discovery of how humans live – traditions, rituals, child rearing, education, humor – all of the things that compose our culture.

It dawned on me, that while their approach is comedic, it is an excellent anthropological approach for understanding the human experience. As anthropologists, researchers, and marketers, there are a few things we can learn from these goofy aliens:

Assume you don’t understand – Go in with an alien perspective and keep that perspective as long as you can. Take the approach that you are experiencing whatever it is for the first time. What are you curious about? What seems to stand out? Ask questions and dissect the pieces until you truly have an insider’s perspective.

Insert yourself – The way you will learn about the experiences of others is to experience it yourself, but keep that alien perspective while you are doing it. In anthropology we call this participant observation. Be part of as much as you can. If it means awkwardly inviting yourself to weddings, or over to someone’s house, you should do it (within reason of course). Which leads to my next suggestion.

Have no shame – There’s no place for shame in this exercise. There really are no stupid questions or requests. It might be humorous to those around you, but they will ultimately understand that your inquiries are part of a quest to truly understand their experience.

Partner with guides – Find someone who is an insider and make them your friend. When you earn their trust, they will share more with you and act as a gate keeper, getting you information or into places that you otherwise wouldn’t be permitted.

Have fun – Don’t take it too seriously. Human inquiry is a fun endeavor. Look at every new research opportunity as one to learn new things and have fun. Sure the joke might be on you, but in the end, nailing the human experience will be no joke. It will drive results for your customers and ultimately your business.

Back to the Future: What Paper Surveys Can Teach Us About Online Survey Design

Today, for the first time in my professional career, I had to design a paper survey. This was an interesting experience, because I’m used to using software like Survey Monkey or Zoomerang where I just choose the type of question and then create the text components. Sure I probably could have created the survey in one of these programs and then printed it out, but I decided to do it the old fashioned way.

What I took away from this experience was that this was a great exercise in survey design. Ultimately, while online surveys allow us many freedoms and are in theory easier to compose, we should stick to the principles of paper surveys, even when doing them online.

Here are the challenges/principles that I faced:

1. Brevity – There’s only a limited number of questions you can fit on an 8x11 sheet of paper, even back and front. This meant that I had to really hone in on what it was I was trying to get at, and I could not boil the ocean. And even online, who wants to spend 20 minutes filling out a survey?

2. Usability – How can I make this survey an easy and positive experience for respondents? What font size and spacing are most appealing? How should I lay out that likert scale?

3. Design – How do I make sure that the survey is visually designed in a way that represents my client’s brand and looks professional enough to deliver to their clients.

4. Prototype – How does all of this come together in the end? Once I finished mocking up my survey in word, I wanted to see how it would translate to paper. I found myself printing the survey with multiple font sizes, and I caught errors in grammar and spelling. It is always a best practice to test your surveys online or off on yourself and probably a few others.

Can you think of more? I’d love to hear them!