Field studies
Field studies - also referred to as "ethnographic" or "contextual" studies - involve the observation of the behaviour and interaction of a small sample of representative users of a given product in its natural context of use. Since context has a significant effect on how and why products are used, field studies are the most effective way of understanding the factors that affect the use of a product that are not revealed by other methods, such as usability studies, surveys, etc., and are complementary to them.
Field studies allow designers and stakeholders to understand actual users, their goals, and the resources they use, to minimise internal assumptions about users, and to design prducts appropriately.
Field studies are ideally conducted either with a finished product, or before any design effort is started, and can be used as the first step in creating personas.
UXagility has conducted several field studies and has successfully translated findings into actionable insights and design recommendations in a variety of contexts (e.g., enterprise products, TV-based applications, and mobile applications).