Photo Journal

When to use it

Use this tool to facilitate a photo study during your research to capture and document real behaviors from the user’s perspective.

What’s the purpose

Photo journals are a great way to see into the lives of users. By capturing images of real moments in their lives, it gives you a window into their reality which can reveal extremely interesting insights that you may otherwise not have the opportunity to observe.

How to do it

1. You can conduct your photo journal study using Sprintbase. To access the photo study capture space, click on this link: https://sprintbase.io/sprintbase-tools/photo-study/
2. Write a brief with the study details and Sprintbase link. This can be sent in an email. Ask your interviewees/users to keep a photo study for 24 hours and to upload their photos on the link. Here is some guidance for your email brief:
  - "Help the research design team to really understand the things that matter to you by keeping a photo journal for 24 hours, providing us with a glimpse into a day in your life. The photos might be of your living space, things that make your life easier, things that make life challenging, habits and hacks… in fact any moments from your day that represents what life is like as part of _________ that you think is interesting. Once you have gathered photographs, go to this link: https://sprintbase.io/sprintbase-tools/photo-study/ and enter the following photo study details (project name + study name), then upload your photos and add descriptions to submit your photo journal to the design team.”
3. Once all your users have submitted their photo journals, download the studies at this link: https://sprintbase.io/sprintbase-tools/photo-study/output/
4. Now, look through all the photos and information you received. Using the ‘Photo Journal’ template, capture the best photographs and most interesting observations on the board, clustering them into themes. Make a note of any interesting or surprising observations.
5. Try forming some insights by asking yourself why you think these things are happening. What is it telling you about what matters to people? Use the madlib below to guide you:“I wonder if this means that _____ (persona/character) wants _____ (action/situation) because _____ (aim/need/outcome) but _____ (restriction/obstacle/friction)."

Helpful tips

You and your team can conduct a photo study on your own or you can ask users to keep a photo journal to share with you.
You may want to use a consent form to support the photo journal task with legal permissions.
You can use the ‘Forming Insights’ template to provide further guidance for crafting meaningful insights.

Using this method in your day-to-day work

Photo journals are a powerful way to analyze real-life situations that intrigue or confuse you or are otherwise difficult to observe. So when you’re next in a position where you feel you want to understand more about a problem in your day-to-day life, or perhaps you’ve been struggling to crack something for some time, take out your phone and snap some pictures of the situation or subject. Remember to ask any people in your photographs for their consent, or make sure you don’t capture any faces.

Then, spend some time looking at your images and analyzing the nuances you may not notice when witnessing them live. Using this template, dig deeper beyond what’s immediately apparent. You’ll be surprised by the intriguing things that begin to jump out at you and the insights they allow you to form.