A Needfinding Framework for Internet Freedom

The Internet Freedom Needfinding Framework is a tool to help you better understand the needs of users of Internet Freedom Tools - open and accessible technologies that promote human rights and open societies. It is our belief that only through truly understanding needs can we build effective and useful Internet Freedom Tools and the services and programs that support them such as training curriculums and outreach programs. These needs can span usability, utility, threats, culture, and much more.

Transcript

1. 1 A NEEDFINDING FRAMEWORK FOR INTERNET FREEDOM
2. 2 The Internet Freedom Needfinding Framework is a tool to help you better understand the needs of users of Internet Freedom Tools - open and accessible technologies that promote human rights and open societies. It is our belief that only through truly understanding needs can we build effective and useful Internet Freedom Tools and the services and programs that support them such as training curriculums and outreach programs. These needs can span usability, utility, threats, culture, and much more. This framework is intended for anyone operating in the realm of Internet Freedom, in particular those who design and develop technology. It can also be utilized by advocates, trainers, funders and many others. This framework contains a great deal of information and it is not intended to be read cover-to-cover by most readers. Instead, we encourage you to take a “choose your own adventure” approach and review the parts of this framework will be most useful to you. We have provided information in the introductory sections about different ways to approach the framework for readers of different backgrounds and with different goals. This is the first publication of this framework. This is a living document that will update and change as it is used and improved. You can always find the most up-to-date version of this framework at secondmuse.com/internetfreedom. While we have the privilege of being the creators and caretakers of this framework, we believe it ultimately belongs to the community and we would like your support in improving it. We invite your questions, feedback, and even additions to this work. Please send them to internetfreedom@secondmuse.com. Thank you, Michael, Katey, Roxann and SecondMuse OPENING LETTER
3. 1 3 Intro to the Internet Freedom Needfinding Framework 5 How to Use This Framework 6 Framework Element Matrix 8 Using this Framework: A Guide 13 Who Uses This Framework? 15 Funding Your Needfinding Work 17 Privacy, Cultural Understanding, and Translation Considerations 19 Guidelines for Engaging with Participants 23 Framework Elements 24 Establishing Goals and Research Questions 26 Developing a Research Plan 29 Conducting Interviews 32 Intercept Interviews 34 Shadow Activity 37 Visual Exercises 41 Facilitating Group Convenings 45 Developing Personas 48 Designing the Analysis Process 53 Appendix 1.1 - Dharamsala, India Research Plan 58 Appendix 1.2 - TorDev (Iceland) Research Plan 63 Appendix 2.1 - Internet Freedom & Dharamsala Landscape Analysis Interview Guide 67 Appendix 2.2 - Dharamsala Pre-Fieldwork Interview Guide 71 Appendix 2.3 - Dharamsala Fieldwork Interview Guide 76 Appendix 2.4 - TorDev (Iceland) Interview Guide 79 Appendix 3.1 - TorDev Intercept Interview Questions 81 Appendix 3.2 - Dharamsala Intercept Interview Questions 82 Appendix 4.1 - Dharamsala Activity Shadow 87 Appendix 5.1 - Dharamsala Fieldwork Visual Exercises 94 Appendix 5.2 - TorDev (Iceland) Fieldwork Visual Exercises 101 Appendix 6.1 - Dharamsala Fieldwork Group Convening TABLE OF CONTENTS APPENDIX
5. 3 There is a system of people, relationships and technology that create the right environment in order for an Internet Freedom Tool1 (IFT) to be effective and widely used. How do we begin to understand that “system” or “environment”? How do we identify and engage with intermediaries2 and users to inform the tool development process? How do we use a deep understanding of users’ needs and reality to create more effective, useful and useable tools? This Needfinding framework is a tool to help the creators of such tools, as well as intermediaries and researchers associated with them, address those questions. One of the most effective approaches to deeply understanding a person or group of people is human- centered design. This approach, which taps into empathy as a source of innovation, has been proven effective in industries from social services to financial services to product design. SecondMuse has created a framework for applying a human-centered design approach to the realm of Internet Freedom. Applying this framework can simultaneously complement and push tool development further in addressing the needs of the users they are meant to serve, resulting in more usable software, increased user engagement, growing user bases, more effective training curriculums, and more. We have an opportunity as a community to explore its application to the IFT space and this work is the start of that very important community conversation. During the creation of this framework, SecondMuse spoke with a range of developers, designers, trainers and others working in the Internet Freedom space and found a broad and consistent desire for ways to better understand user needs. Supporting these groups, particularly those involved directly in the development of Internet Freedom tools, in gaining a deeper understanding of what is happening in the lives of users will allow them to have a bigger impact through the tools that they create. Some of the things we heard from developer in particular was an interest in: ▪ ▪ A clearer picture of who the user really is. ▪ ▪ Knowing what is unique about a certain group of users and what is shared across user communities in the IFT space. ▪ ▪ Knowing who to talk to, when to talk to them and how. ▪ ▪ A process to understand how security and privacy fit into a user’s life priorities. ▪ ▪ Understanding what makes a user adopt a tool or not - especially their tool. ▪ ▪ Where to start if they want to include users in the development process earlier than seeking feedback once a tool is released. These and other topics informed the design of the empathy-based Internet Freedom Needfinding Framework. Needfinding is the process within human-centered design that determines the needs of an individual and/or 1Internet Freedom Tools are software applications developed to solve the technical challenges of anonymity, privacy, security and information access. 2An intermediary is an organization that offers services and support to others, such as security tool training or media outreach and management. INTRO TO THE INTERNET FREEDOM NEEDFINDING FRAMEWORK
6. 4 community. It is the foundation for developing compelling solution that reflect what is happening in the world. What you find in this framework is designed to be a resource that can complement what you and your team are already doing. Help you to think about where you are in your own process, how users fit in and the questions you have related to your target users. The following are the components of Internet Freedom Needfinding: ▪ ▪ Developing a Research Plan: How to design your user engagement process ▪ ▪ Establishing Goals & Research Questions: How to identify the focus of your research and what you hope to achieve ▪ ▪ Conducting Interviews: How to ask effective questions to get to deeper motivations and needs ▪ ▪ Conducting Intercept Interviews: How to leverage shorter interactions with participants to help your research ▪ ▪ Conducting Activity Shadow: How to identify and learn from observing activities that shed light on their needs, motivations and at times use of IFTs ▪ ▪ Designing Visual Exercises: How to design and facilitate research activities that the participant creates ▪ ▪ Facilitating Group Convening: How to design and facilitate a group of participants through a series of activities and questions ▪ ▪ Developing Personas: How to create composites of users with common behaviors, attitudes and motivation ▪ ▪ Designing the Analysis Process: Hot to make sense of what you are learning and experiencing from research This framework is a series of exercises, templates and guidance that will help you and your team begin your journey to a deeper understanding of users and thus further improving the reach and impact of your tool. Each section has 5 main parts: 1. Definition - a description of the activity and methodology 2. Overview - a preview and summary of the section 3. Why - lays out the purpose of this activity and what you will gain from doing it 4. How - takes you through the steps and mindset to adapt the activity to your use 5. Example & Additional Resources - provides you with a sample of a document that shows how the SecondMuse team used the same method in the work that informed this project. This may also include other reference materials like books, blogs, examples, etc. to look into if you would like to learn more about this particular approach. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Although this framework is inspired by human-centred design, this is not an attempt to replace that methodology. If you are interested in learning more about that approach we encourage you to seek out institutions like Stanford University’s d.school as well as books and online trainings like 101 Design Methods by Vijay Kumar and GameStorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, James Macanufo, and Acumen Fund’s Human-Centered Design for Social Impact series with IDEO.org, just to name a few. There are numerous resources out there. The purpose of this section is to share with this particular community (Internet Freedom tool users, tool developers, advocates, funders, intermediaries, etc.) a selection of the techniques and approaches that were used to gain understanding into the perspectives of developers and users, specifically in Dharamsala and Reykjavik, to understand their needs. INTRO TO THE INTERNET FREEDOM NEEDFINDING FRAMEWORK
7. 5 This framework contains a lot of content and there are many ways to engage with it. This chapter helps you figure out how to start and general guidelines to follow. The Guide section below offers three suggested levels of engagement with this content. The Privacy, Translation and Cultural Understanding section reviews important considerations for employing this framework regardless of how comprehensively you engage with each element within it. This framework is organized in a logical order for a comprehensive use of the entire framework, but each element can be used on its own or in combination with others. The following matrix briefly reviews what each framework element is, how complex it is to implement an element in terms of time and experience required to utilize it effectively, and what engagement plans they are a part of as seen in the next section: the guide. HOW TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK 5
8. 6 HOW TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK OVERVIEW: THE NEEDFINDING FRAMEWORK 1 4 7 2 5 8 3 6 9 FRAMEWORK ELEMENT DEFINITION Establishing Goals and Research Questions Goals and research questions serve as the compass for your journey to understanding the needs of an individual or community by guiding the development of every exercise and action and keeping you anchored as you learn new information. Developing a Research Plan A Research Plan is an overview of why you are talking to users and influential stakeholders, who you are talking to, what methods you are using to understand users and where. Conducting Interviews A common tool used in journalism, social science, hiring and needfinding, which typically involves verbal exchange over a series of questions that seek to provide a deeper understanding of a story, person, place, or event. Intercept Interviews Intercept Interviews are designed to increase understanding and dialogue through a series of quick questions that take no more than 10 to 15 minutes of dialogue. Shadow Activity Spending time in the natural environment of your subject to observe their everyday activities, realities and constraints and or challenges associated with a specific activities or activities in order to gain understanding and empathy. Visual Exercises A visual exercise is an activity that engages the participant in physically drawing or writing ideas on paper, followed by time for participants to share and answer questions about what they created. Facilitating Group Convenings A Group Convening is a multi-hour session where people from a shared social network spend time together discussing a curated set of topics and activities to unlock needs through group dynamics. Developing Personas Personas represent a composite of users with common behaviors, attitudes and motivations who exhibit similar behavioral patterns in their use of information and technology to achieve a goal. Designing the Analysis Process Analysis is the opportunity to understand what you are experiencing in your research. It encompasses a series of activities that can be done alone or in a group that allows you to think differently and empathetically about your user(s).
9. 7 COMPLEXIT Y [1-3] LIGHT ENGAGEMENT STANDARD ENGAGEMENT EXTENDED ENGAGEMENT 1 2 1 1 2 2 3 3 2 HOW TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK
11. 9 The intention of this framework is to enable anyone to use what is most relevant for them, and to modify each component as they see fit. We offer three approaches (outlined below) as starting points for engaging the framework. Remember that each of these is simply a guide - feel free to adapt it to fit your skills, needs and context. LIGHT TOUCH ENGAGEMENT A light touch engagement is an accessible yet still meaningful entry point for understanding users if you have limited experience in needfinding, limited time to execute a needfinding process, or both. Estimated Time Needed: You will likely spend between 3.5 to 5 days total to complete a light touch engagement. Expect about one day of preparation (establishing goals, preparing research guide, identifying interviewees and coordinating interviews), 1.5 to 3 days for interviews (at least 2 hours per interview: half hour of prep, an hour interview, and a half hour debrief), and 1 day of analysis. Get Started: The single most important starting point is to establish the goals and research questions for your project. If you do nothing else, this single exercise will allow you to continually orient your work toward what you aim to accomplish. Following the development of goals and questions, conducting interviews is the most accessible way to start collecting information to serve those goals. Frame your interview questions in ways that will provide answers to your research questions and thus serve your overall goals. Identifying and reaching the best individuals to interview can take time. Start with those who are relatively easy to access and help you gain the understanding you desire. For example, if one of your goals is to better understand your user, reach out to people you know who use your tool. Use these interviews with familiar individuals to practice your interview skills and hone your interview guide. Once you have practiced and revised, you can begin to reach out to those you know less well, and begin to interview users with different backgrounds, skills and experiences to gain a deeper understanding. You can ask people in your social network as well as the people you interview for other suggestions on who else to interview, what relevant events you should attend, and for any other resources such as blogs and research papers that can provide you with valuable knowledge. USING THIS FRAMEWORK: A GUIDE HOW TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK Key Activities: ▪ ▪ Establish goals and research questions. ▪ ▪ Conduct 6-12 interviews and intercepts ▪ ▪ Perform a basic analysis process based on your initial research questions.
12. 10 In addition to scheduled interviews, use convenings, forums and conferences to connect with people to further your contextual understanding all the while continuing to work toward your research goals. When you have limited time or encounter an unexpected but important stakeholder engage them with intercept interviews rather than full interviews. When you have conducted a reasonable number of interviews and intercepts (a great goal is to conduct at least 10 interviews and/or intercept engagements to start) conduct a basic analysis process by answering your original research questions based on the data you have collected and adjust your questions and goals based on your new understanding. The most important part of the analysis process is debriefing, which is a simple and brief analysis session after every major thing you do such as an interview or a group convening. Debriefing is important because you quickly lose details and nuanced understanding as time passes after an activity or interview. Remember to debrief after every exercise you conduct. STANDARD ENGAGEMENT A standard engagement enables you to dive deeper into understanding your users and can still be done without significant experience in needfinding Estimated Time Needed: You will likely spend a total of 3 weeks to complete a standard engagement. You can expect approximately 5 days of planning (developing research plan, preparing interview guide, visual activities, identifying interviewees and coordinating interviews, site visits, group engagement), 7 days for information gathering (at least 2 hours per interview: half hour of prep, an hour interview, and a half hour debrief), and 3 days of analysis of findings. These three weeks of work will likely need to be spread out over a longer period of time due to the logistics involved with executing such a process. Get Started: The starting point for a standard engagement is to go beyond simply establishing the goals and research questions for your project and to develop a full research plan. This plan should be a living document that changes as you move forward, gain new insights, allow you to modify your approach as needed, add new research questions, and come up with additional activities. Despite the evolving nature of this plan, you should complete it to the best of your ability as your first step realizing it will likely evolve and also serve as an anchor to you throughout your discovery. HOW TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK Key Activities: ▪ ▪ Develop a full research plan. ▪ ▪ Conduct 4-8 interviews, then reevaluate research plan and interview guide and conduct additional interviews as needed. ▪ ▪ Conduct a group convening, including visual exercises. ▪ ▪ Conduct a shadow activity. ▪ ▪ Perform basic analysis after each interview, group convening, and shadow. ▪ ▪ Perform a detailed analysis based on research questions at least twice during the process.
13. 11 After you’re sufficiently satisfied with your research plan, your next step will be to develop a list of potential interviewees in an interview guide and then start with a few initial interviews. These interviewees should represent multiple perspectives in the goals and research questions you have defined. With the longer time span that comes with a standard engagement versus a light touch engagement, plan your interviews in phases so you can accommodate increased understanding you will gain throughout the process. Start by interviewing 4 to 8 individuals with a range of backgrounds and expertise that are relevant to your research goals. Then pause and re-evaluate your list of potential interviewees and the interview guide before continuing with additional interviews. An important component of a standard engagement is to break out of simply performing one-on-one interviews. Do this by conducting a facilitated group convening where potential users are brought together to discuss a curated set of topics and activities. The context of a group convening allows you to unlock additional needs through facilitating conversation and observing how a group responds and builds on each other’s experience and perspective. Logistics can feel like a barrier to convene groups of users. However, this can be mitigated by working with intermediary organizations, such as human rights advocacy groups, that have existing relationships with potential users. Not only can intermediary groups alleviate some of the logistical burden of finding users, but think through and articulate how your work can positively impact their mission. Work together as allies to gather accurate, quality data. You can also take advantage of other convenings, such as conferences and workshops, to reduce the logistical challenges. Group convenings are an excellent place to utilize visual exercises. These activities leverage creative expression as opposed to strictly verbal communication in order to understand your user and unlock their needs. Visual exercises do not need to be restricted to group convenings, however, they can be utilized during individual interviews or with small groups convened opportunistically at events or workshops. With the increased number of information collecting exercises in the standard engagement comes an increased need for focused analysis of your findings. Design an analysis process that will allow you to follow up with a debrief (brief analysis) after every activity - interviews, convening, and shadows - so that information is captured and processed while it is still fresh in your mind. Also take time during your multiple points in the process to do more focused sessions to draw out trends, patterns and surprises from a series of completed research activities. You can also develop personas as part of your analysis process if you determine that will be helpful in addressing your research goals. An example of a standard engagement is SecondMuse’s work with digital activists from Vietnam. The approach, data and analysis from this work are detailed in Understanding Internet Freedom: Vietnam’s Digital Activists. HOW TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK
14. 12 EXTENDED ENGAGEMENTS An extended research engagement with this framework includes all of the elements of a standard engagement, but in a much more rigorous form. Estimated Time Needed: This type of engagement will require a minimum of 6 weeks, but 8 weeks is suggested (this includes at least two weeks spent immersed within a community of users or potential users). The team conducting the research should be at least three individuals, ideally including one person who is intimately familiar with the community you are working with. Ample time should be allowed to process and analyze the results following the research engagement. Keep in mind that these 6 to 8 weeks will likely not be consecutive - planning such an in depth engagement takes time to handle things out of your control, such as waiting on travel plans, interviewees, and conflicting schedules of team members and participants. Get Started: In the light and standard engagements, much of the suggested activities involve being opportunistic by taking advantage of existing events and gatherings. For an extended engagement with this framework, we suggest that you plan and execute an extended research engagement in partnership with a community of users and potential users - spending time in the field with users. The elements of a standard engagement should be scaled to support this extended research engagement. When planning interviews, you may wish to focus early interviews on identifying potential user communities to work with. Conduct multiple group convenings focusing on different groups of users with different priorities and concerns. Conduct multiple shadow activities with a diversity of organizations or individuals. Plan repeated analysis activities throughout the process, particularly when in the field for the extended research engagement. HOW TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK Key Activities: ▪ ▪ Develop a full research plan which includes time on the ground with the community of users you seek to understand. ▪ ▪ Conduct 8-12 interviews, then reevaluate research plan and interview guide and conduct additional interviews as needed. ▪ ▪ Conduct a group convening, including visual exercises. ▪ ▪ Conduct shadow activities. ▪ ▪ Perform basic analysis after each interview, group convening, and shadow. ▪ ▪ Perform a detailed analysis based on research questions at least twice during the process, possibly including the development of personas.
15. 13 Take the time during an extended engagement to conduct at least one shadow activity. Shadowing allows you to observe needs through an extended engagement with individuals or groups over the course of a meaningful period of time - ideally two weeks - where you can observe and spend time with users in a setting that is natural to them such as a typical daily activity, work task or meeting. Spending a day or an afternoon with potential users opens up yet another avenue for uncovering needs, this time through the observation of daily behavior. The extended engagement also gives you a wealth of data with which you can create meaningful personas. Develop personas as part of your analysis process if you determine that will be helpful in addressing your research goals. An example of an advanced application of this framework, including an extended research engagement, is SecondMuse’s work with the Tibetan Exile Community in Dharamsala, India. The approach, data and analysis from this work are detailed in Understanding Internet Freedom: The Tibetan Exile Community. If you are planning an advanced application of this framework we invite you to reach out to us. We are happy to advise you on your approach based on our own experience. You can reach us at internetfreedom@secondmuse.com. HOW TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK
16. 14 This framework is a comprehensive document with a number of points of entry. It is also intended to be used by a range of different individuals with different experience and skill levels. Here are a few examples of different users of the framework: A project manager for an organization developing Internet Freedom tools that has struggled with usability concerns. The project manager identifies a few key user groups and puts together a Needfinding research plan based on the light engagement approach that leverages upcoming events and conferences to organize interviews and small group convenings with representative members of those user groups. The project manager has limited research experience so they regularly seek advisement and feedback from more experienced researchers and other users of the framework as they establish and progress through the research plan. A designer and developer struggling with user turnover in a new Internet Freedom related software tool. The developer, who has limited access to resources, puts together a set of key questions and builds an interview guide around it, following the light engagement described above. They then set up eight interviews with a diverse range of individuals who have expressed an interest in the tool but have not become regular users, focusing on understanding the reasons their interest was piqued but did not lead to consistent usage. A trainer developing a new training curriculum. After building a plan based on the standard engagement, the trainer shadows an existing training event and follows up with the participants both immediately after the event and three months later to understand the value they received or missed during it. The trainer incorporates learnings from this into new training programs. A funder reviewing grant proposals seeks those addressing key needs. The funder understands the basics of Needfinding by reading the introductory sections of the framework and browsing through the elements and appendix. They are better able to recognize proposals that have a competent understanding of the needs they are addressing, and can advise proposal which look promising but do not yet have a satisfactory plan for user engagement. An experienced researcher seeking deeper knowledge about a community and a specific tool. The researcher uses the framework to outline a comprehensive research plan based on the advanced engagement approach centered around the context of the specific tool, using input from developers of the tool to understand the key points of knowledge that they seek. The researcher executes the plan alongside developers of the tool and has usable versions of the tool on hand for interviews, visual exercises, and other activities. WHO USES THIS FRAMEWORK? 13
18. 16 During the process of designing this framework we learned that funders of Internet Freedom related work also see a necessary value in understanding the needs of users. Most developers and organizations we spoke with did not yet have the resources to support this sort of work, and this section is intended to help address that gap. Here are a few guidelines for how to incorporate this approach into your next proposal, along with some things to consider when doing so. Prior to proposing any Needfinding work as part of your Internet Freedom related project, it is important to establish the research questions and goals you will be addressing, and outline a research plan. This will be the basis for your work, and will be necessary in order to accurately estimate the time and expense required to conduct the needfinding. Based on your research plan, pull out the different framework elements that will be needed to execute it. You can treat each element of the framework as a distinct item, estimate the costs for that item, and multiply the cost by the number of times you intend to conduct it. For example, you can estimate the time required to conduct an interview and multiply that by the number of interviews you intend to conduct. Please be mindful of lower costs that come with repeating work. For example, it may take you a day to come up with and review an interview guide, but that only needs to be done once for a series of interviews. Regarding scope, we strongly suggest a light engagement if this is your first time working with this Needfinding framework or something similar. Needfinding can be challenging work and experience in conducting it is important to accurately estimate time and expense. Pushing too far too fast can easily set you up for more work than you intended, which can easily lead to inaccurate results. Carefully plan out expenses associated with your needfinding work and resist the urge to reduce overall cost by under-estimating expenses. For example, if you are going to head to events, how many people will go? How much does it cost to stay near the event? Is there an entry fee to the event? What are the miscellaneous expenses of those involved such as food and permits or visas? If you are going to a location where you don’t speak the local language, how much will it cost to hire a translator? Who will be your on-the-ground coordinator, and how much might they cost? Walk yourself through your research plan and consider each expense along the way. Think about what your funder will look for as a result of this work. It may be informative to your design process and change how you build your tool or design a training program, but how will you express these things to the entity that funded this work? Will a simple summary suffice or will they be looking for a more comprehensive and shareable report? This should be at the beginning of any section in your proposal dealing with needfinding. Finally, before inserting this plan into your proposal, be clear in justifying the importance of it to your process. Why do you need to implement this Needfinding process? What value will it provide, why it is well suited to provide that value? This approach may not be familiar to the potential funder you are working with, and the responsibility is on your to convey its value. FUNDING YOUR NEEDFINDING WORK HOW TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK
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20. 18 There are a few important topics to consider, regardless of the approach taken, when implementing this needfinding framework. These are the privacy of the participants, establishing a cultural understanding of the community you are working with, and understanding the role and challenges of translation. PRIVACY First and foremost, it is critical to think through the privacy of the participants in your needfinding work. Participants should always be made aware of your intended outcome for the data and how information about them will be both protected and shared, as well as, how the information they provide will be used in that outcome. This should occur before any data collection or related research activities have begun. Below are three suggested questions to ask all participants before beginning: ▪ ▪ Are there any security concerns we should be aware of related to this interview and documentation of conversations relating to it? ▪ ▪ Are you comfortable with us taking notes while we are with you (and/or) recording this discussion (and/or) taking photos or video? (Be sure to explain why you are taking notes, where they will be stored, and how they will be protected) ▪ ▪ What restrictions should we be aware of regarding the publishing and sharing of information learned here? Asking these questions alone, however, is not enough. It is your responsibility to ensure that they are communicated effectively, which may require modifying or translating them. It is also your responsibility to bring contextual awareness and understand what activities may be risky or damaging, even if the participant is not aware of it. For example, if a participant tells you it is okay to use their own name while taking notes but you know from your research that it could pose a problem for this person in particular, it is your responsibility to either dig deeper into the conversation until you are satisfied that they fully understand and accept any risk. If you cannot establish that, it is your responsibility to refrain from documenting or sharing anything that could potentially bring harm to the participant. You can also solicit the advice of a cultural or subject matter expert for help in preparing to address privacy and security concerns. CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING The global nature of Internet Freedom means you will likely engage with members of cultures and communities that are quite different from your own. It is your responsibility to ensure you approach your work in a culturally appropriate manner. This PRIVACY, CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING, AND TRANSLATION CONSIDERATIONS HOW TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK
21. 19 is both out of respect for the participants you are working with and for developing a greater understanding of what you learn while working with them. When developing your research plan, prioritize early work to develop a better understanding of the community or individuals you will be working with. Seek to understand customary interpersonal behavior such as greetings, signs of respect, and communication style. If you will be working with them in person, understand what constitutes appropriate attire and body language. Go further by developing an understanding of social and cultural history of the participants, which can greatly inform what you take away from the time you spend with them. TRANSL ATION Like cultural understanding, translation is also an important consideration of globally conscious work. Identifying and working with a translator that you trust and can be consistently engaged is a big benefit. Even when you are speaking with participants who speak English, using a translator to communicate in a native language can provide richer results. Here are a few important guidelines to consider when working with a translator: ▪ ▪ Needfinding activities generally take twice as long to complete when working with a translator. Plan appropriately. ▪ ▪ Talk with your translator about the “why” of your work - why are you taking this approach? What are you looking to get out of it? They will better be able to translate and support when they are aware of this context. ▪ ▪ Ask your translator to translate your statements directly, without paraphrasing or modifying them. Ask them to inform you immediately about changes made in the moment to facilitate understanding so you can note them for future discussion or correct a miscommunication. ▪ ▪ Translators with some contextual knowledge on technology and Internet Freedom will be better suited to help you analyze what you learn in addition to simply translating. They can also be helpful in reviewing materials you are developing, such as guides and exercises. Oftentimes a translator will be performing other roles in the project, perhaps even as a member of the research team. Establish an understanding early on about the role you’d like them to play and check in regularly throughout your work. HOW TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK 18
22. 20 There are many different tools and exercises in this framework, but they all share the common component of facilitating your engagement with participants - whether they be users, developers, or representatives of intermediary organizations. The guidelines in this section are relevant to every framework element you see below. EMPATHY AND THE RESEARCH PROCESS Empathy can be defined as your ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. This ability is central to all Needfinding work. Empathy is not a switch you can turn on - it takes time to establish a relationship where a participant feels comfortable sharing thoughts and feelings with you, and for you to be able to draw the conclusions you seek from it. Below is a graph that demonstrates the research process and the role of empathy through engagement with a participant or group of participants: This process can happen over the course of an entire interview or within the context of specific exercises during a group convening. GUIDELINES FOR ENGAGING WITH PARTICIPANTS time Intro Yourself Intro Project Build Rapport Evoke Stories Explore Emotions Question Statements Thank & Wrap-up Empathy Curve, Stanford d.school. HOW TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK
23. 21 ENCOURAGE STORY TELLING Encouraging participants to tell stories is an important part of a robust Needfinding approach. When an individual shares a story instead of simply answering a question you are often able to draw out a greater range of details around their experiences and ask even more insightful follow up questions. Similarly, when people are able to share what is important to them in the natural way they communicate this engenders trust. Trust is critical for you to be able to gain a deeper understanding of how your tool and/or service fits or doesn’t fit into their lives. Creating the types of interactions that make storytelling possibly can often be done simply by asking for an example when a participant talks about something interesting or something you want to understand better. You can even prompt stories directly by asking a participant to tell you a story about a certain topic or occurrence. Other elements in the framework, such as, visual exercises and group convenings also aid in helping people share their context and personal experiences which are at the heart of storytelling. Storytelling is also encouraged by embracing good practices around interview questions, observation, and coordination with your team. Below are a few tips for doing great research. Adherence to these tips will support you in drawing out meaningful stories: 1. Watch first, believe what you see, and ask questions later. 2. Avoid binary questions. 3. Ask “why?” 4. Pay attention to nonverbal cues. 5. Be patient: trust your question and wait. 6. Learn their language, such as preferred terminology for different concepts, and use it. 7. Ask questions neutrally, one at a time. 8. Connect and coordinate with your teammates. 9. Capture it all with notes and recordings, if appropriate. 10. Be patient. People need time to put together their thoughts. Don’t feel a need to fill that space with meaningless chatter or rush on to the next question. 20
24. 22 OBSERVATION The most valuable tool you have in your research process is your own ability to observe. No matter how focused your research priorities are, observing a range of things around you will have an impact on what you learn. This includes everything from paying attention to how the world works for the users, to the things a user surrounds themselves with. AEIOU is a simple acronym to help you remember what to look for in the field. Here is what it means: Remember that all of these elements can be meaningful despite your focus. For example, even if you are looking into something as specific as how people use a mobile app, there are still going to be valuable insights to gain from the environment, such as where they store or carry their mobile device in their office, and a users’ interactions with others, such as their co-workers. DEBRIEFING One of the most important things you can do throughout your process is to immediately debrief with your team after each activity even if you only have 15 minutes. Debriefing while information is still fresh in your mind is essential. No matter how good your notes are and how tired you feel after an activity, you will lose details and insights as time passes. Here is a short list of items to consider when debriefing: 1. Initial Impressions & Knowledge Nuggets: How did this activity go and what did you learn? What are the most valuable or interesting insights you drew from this activity? 1. Participant Life & Priorities: What are the lives and priorities of the participants both in general as they relate to your research goals? 1. Social Connections & Roles: Who do they interact with, how, and how does that impact your research priorities? 1. What the Heck?!: Review surprising findings, unexpected context and anecdotes. 1. What Else? - End your debrief by asking this open-ended question. This framework details how to approach debriefing and analysis ingeneral in the last section, Designing the Analysis Process. ▪ ▪ Activities ▪ ▪ Environment ▪ ▪ Interactions ▪ ▪ Objects ▪ ▪ U (People) ▪ ▪ Activities ▪ ▪ Environment ▪ ▪ Interactions ▪ ▪ Objects ▪ ▪ U (People) 21
25. 23 22
26. 24 The remainder of this framework contains descriptions, motivations, and instructions for using each element in service of developing your own Needfinding process. Each element also contains a corresponding set of examples and templates in the appendix that follows. Each element is also associated with one or more engagement types, as outlined in the How to Use This Needfinding Framework chapter. The following indicators reflect which engagement type a framework element is associated with: Light Engagement Standard Engagement Extended Engagement FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
27. 25 ESTABLISHING GOALS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS Definition Goals and research questions serve as the compass for your journey to understanding the needs of an individual or community. By guiding the development of every exercise and action, having clear goals and research questions keep you anchored as you learn new information Overview Establishing your goals and the questions you seek to answer is the first and most important element of identifying needs. You are exercising a basic needfinding inquiry on your own process: what do you want to achieve, and what do you need to learn in order to achieve it? Once determined, these questions should remain at the core of the research you are conducting. They are also helpful for re-calibrating the research team throughout the process. Why Every step in the process of needfinding should be oriented towards a greater set of goals. The goals you establish here will provide that orientation. The first things you will ask yourself before designing and conducting any part of needfinding will be “How am I addressing my goals? Will this provide answers to my research questions?” This will be true whether you are choosing who in a community to interview or designing creative exercises for participants to complete. How: Establishing Goals The first step is to establish your goals. These are the high level objectives that you have. Remember that these can be revisited and revised - nothing is being carved in stone. Here are some simple questions to ask yourself: ▪ ▪ Why are we conducting this research? ▪ ▪ What are the general desired outcomes for each stakeholder in this project, including our funder or partnering organization? ▪ ▪ What are some specific kinds of knowledge we want to get out of this research? ▪ ▪ If this research is a success, what would that look like one year from now? The SecondMuse team established goals prior to a trip to Iceland for a Tor Project Developer Meeting. In answering the questions above, the team reflected that they were conducting this research in order to understand the motivations and mindsets of developers, particularly in how they interact with and think about their users. What they wanted to get out of it FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS 1
28. 26 was a deeper understanding of how a developer thinks about their user, what preconceived notions come to mind. They also specifically wanted to get feedback on a few specific documents the team had developed. Here are a few of the goals they came up with: ▪ ▪ To increase our understanding of the tool development process from the perspective of the developer. ▪ ▪ To uncover assumptions about the user’s role in the development process, the connection that developers have with users, and prioritization of security and privacy as it relates to designing for users. ▪ ▪ To obtain feedback on framework deliverables from the perspective of what is both valuable and engaging to developers. ▪ ▪ To build empathy by understanding Tor developers’ frames of meaning, personal experience, behaviors and emotions. As well as security, privacy, community building, user engagement, the role of users, what’s important to developers. A series of additional examples can be found in research plans in Appendix 1.1 and Appendix 1.2. Establishing Research Questions These are the questions and topics that, if answered successfully, will satisfy the goals that have been established. Occasionally these questions will translate directly into interview questions, or questions used in various exercises described later in this framework. More often, these are guiding questions that the researchers keep in mind every step along the way. They are also used during follow-up analysis activities to review what was learned and organize knowledge in a way that is helpful to the overall goals. ▪ ▪ What are the specific topics or questions that need to be addressed with this research to serve these goals? Now that the SecondMuse team established their goals, they determined a series of specific questions directed at addressing those goals. The team worked some of these questions into the interview guide, but more often than that came up with additional questions in preparation for other activities that would serve to answer them. These included: ▪ ▪ How do developers approach the development process from the perspective of usability? ▪ ▪ What are the biggest challenges (pain points) in their development process? ▪ ▪ How do developers think about users? ▪ ▪ Do developers desire to engage more effectively with users? If so, where do they see their current form of engagement as lacking? A series of additional examples for both Objectives and Research Questions can be found in the research plans in Appendix 1.1 and Appendix 1.2. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
29. 27 DEVELOPING A RESEARCH PL AN Definition A Research Plan is a document that is an overview of why you are talking to users and influential stakeholders, who you are talking to, what methods you are using to understand users and where. Overview Determining who you are going to speak with and spend time with, when, where and how is an important part of the human- centered design process. Empathy-building activities, whether it is a couple of phone conversations or meeting users to look at a prototype at a conference or spending a couple of weeks in their city, need to be planned and organized around what you want to learn and how you seek to learn it. The following will take you through the Research Plan process: how to develop a document that explains what you are going to do and why that will lead to not only better tool design, but also use of that tool. The Research Plan is intended to be an overview of your entire approach. The example research plans in the appendix are relatively brief - about four to five pages each. A Research Plan is a living document that should put the entire plan in perspective and be easily referenced, and not be overly lengthy and cumbersome. Why A Research Plan gives you a centralized place to explain your user engagement strategy and approach to other developers, intermediaries, and funders. This document is also a great place to get feedback and assistance from these groups to ensure that you are using your time and resources most efficiently to aid in designing and/or improving your tool. Similarly, having a Research Plan keeps you anchored throughout the research process and as you learn new information, helps you see where it fits within what you seek to accomplish. How Once you have decided that it would be beneficial for you and/or your team to engage with users regardless of where you are in your development process, it’s a good idea to capture the following categories, but edit as needed to achieve the goals of your work: SecondMuse developed a research plan for their visit to Dharamsala, India to work with the Tibetan Exile Community. You can find the research plan that is discussed here in Appendix 1.1. GOALS & OUTCOMES: Why are we conducting this research? What do we want to get out of it specifically? What are the desired outcomes? FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS 2
30. 28 The visit to Dharamsala had a number of interwoven goals. We used the research plan as an opportunity to make these high level goals explicit so we could adequately address them and understand where they overlap. This included applying and iterating on developing a needfinding framework, identifying key needs of users as they relate to privacy and security, and helping build a body of knowledge about how users interact with Internet Freedom tools. For more details see the next section - Establishing Goals & Research Questions KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS & TOPICS: Are there specific topics or questions that need to be answered with this research? This is a good place to list them. This is typically a list of 5-10 questions. Given these broader goals, SecondMuse was able to distill a series of specific research questions and topics. These would go on to be the foundation for all of the future interview guides, activities, and other exercises developed for the time spent in Dharamsala. For more details see the next section - Establishing Goals & Research Questions META THEMES: As you interview and observe participants keep in mind these larger issues you are exploring. In addition to the specific research questions that could be prioritized and answered directly in Dharamsala, SecondMuse had other themes that it has been exploring in the Internet Freedom, usability and human centered design space. This section provided an opportunity to highlight some of those, such as remembering to draw out learnings that were transferable beyond the Tibetan Exile Community in Dharamsala. APPROACH & ACTIVITIES: How are you defining the research activities to get to the goals? This is an overview of the different types of research activities, including number and type of participants, locations, etc. This may be primary research, secondary, etc. Now it is time to turn these goals, questions and themes into action. The approach section was used by SecondMuse to highlight the activities that would be undertaken to address these questions and topics. The activities listed here are largely the other elements of the framework, though also listed are additional forms of obtaining information such as casual observation. Goals are also listed for the number of each activity type to be conducted. SELECTION CRITERIA: Who are you studying and why? This section explains how you selected research location, participants, etc. It is important to think about who to speak to in order to address the research questions and goals. This brief section outlines a number of key types of people and organizations that can collectively offer a comprehensive FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
31. 29 perspective on the questions we develop. TEAM & ROLES: Who’s going to conduct the fieldwork, number of people in-field, etc. What are the roles in-field (i.e. leading, taking notes, video, etc.) In the field in Dharamsala the SecondMuse team decided to take an approach that rotates all team members in and out of each position of responsibility and spreads the commitment to participate equally, leaving reasonable time for breaks for everybody. Having this clearly articulated in the research plan grounded the entire team in a common set of expectations. DRAFT SCHEDULE: This is a general sense of how the research may go and will be refined as your research begins. Depending on the level of research this may include: team meetings and debriefs, travel time, as well as participant research slots. For an extended research visit like the two weeks of time spent in Dharamsala, it is often not possible to plan a detailed agenda in advance. For an example of a brief agenda, please review Appendix 1.2 for the agenda associated with the fieldwork SecondMuse conducted in Iceland at TorDev. For Dharamsala, the team created an agenda that was consistently updated in the field. This agenda also contains information that is not meant for public sharing, so only a portion of the agenda is included in this research plan. LOGISTICS: This includes travel information, materials needed, contact information of other people participating in the research like an in-country guide, etc. The logistics section contains all of the logistical information that could be needed throughout the trip. This includes travel info, hotel info, and can include emergency contacts and other support. The team traveled to Dharamsala separately from one another so it was particularly important to keep this information up to date. This is a working document meaning that you will continuously come back to this and it may change based on what you are learning from others, resources and constraints you may face. It should however be finalized before you start your active primary research; i.e. talking to users. Additional Resources The SecondMuse team created two Research Plans for our fieldwork in Iceland at the Tor Developer Convening and in India working with the Tibetan exile population in Dharamsala. Appendix 1.1 and Appendix 1.2 are examples layout our plan and design of our time on the ground. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
32. 30 CONDUCTING INTERVIEWS Designer Note: You’ll notice paragraphs of italicized text in each of these elements. These are meant to be visually distinct: they are an example story of the current framework element. We are open to ideas on how to incorporate them visually. It should be something more visually distinct than just italicized text (perhaps a different color of text would suffice, but i wonder if there are other clear visual cues as well) Definition An interview is a common tool used in journalism, social science, in the workplace, but is also used in Needfinding. An interview typically involves a verbal exchange over a series of questions as one seeks to gain a deeper understanding of a story, person, place, or event. Overview Interviews are used to gain understanding in human-centered design. What delineates the human-centered design interview is that it facilitates a deeper understanding of the person, his/her life, and perspectives without attachment to an already developed set of assumptions or hypotheses. A successful interview requires sufficient preparation to develop a relevant and customized interview guide based on what you know about the stakeholder, communication of the purpose, process, and use of interview to the interviewee, access to appropriate tools such as a handheld recorder or conference line with recording capability, and clarity around the roles of the interview team. Additionally, keeping detailed notes, pulling key takeaways and sharing across the research team is important in order to honor the time, stories and contributions of those interviewed. Why Interviews are one of most effective and common ways to gain a deep understanding through the perspective of an individual or group, and multiple interviews with different participants uncover overarching themes and insights. How There are several important elements involved in the interview process laid out and explained below. Keep in mind this is an ideal scenario and the availability of time and resources will impact your process. 1). Pre-Interview Scheduling and Tracking: Set up a tracking document that lists the contact and scheduling information, who is responsible for the interview and any existing relationships or necessary background. Keep this document in a central place to enable multiple team members to access and participate in the scheduling and interview process. Interview Guide: Create a generic interview guide, which is directly linked to your research objectives as a base for each interview. Use this guide as a starting point, removing questions that aren’t a priority and adding specific FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS 3
33. 31 questions relevant to that particular stakeholder. A typical flow for an interview guide includes: introduction of interviewers, background on the project, logistics (how long, acknowledgement that you are taking notes, and permissions). Begin the interview with open-ended questions about who the stakeholder is and how they got to where they are today. Keep in mind it is absolutely critical to let the person share. Their context is as important as the answers to specific questions you have. After you’ve created a sense of openness and trust, you can start specific questioning related to your research questions. When creating questions avoid “yes/no” types of responses by designing questions to elicit stories, where interviewees not only tell you what tools they use, but also share when, where and why they use them. For example, instead of asking “Do you like X [internet freedom tool]?” You can ask them “Tell us a about a challenge you or your organization faced related to concerns of privacy or security.” Then follow-up with “ Do you use, or have you ever used, software that was intended to help manage your privacy or security online? Tell us about it.” This opens up the interview to explore a topic deeper and thus give you a better opportunity to understand what you need to do, in this case, to improve the tool. Wrap-up the interview by letting them know a timeline for how their interview will be used, and if necessary a request to reach back out. Translation and Cultural Sensitivity: test the interview guide on trusted stakeholders to ensure it is translated accurately (if translated), that questions are worded appropriately, and it is culturally appropriate for your target audience. At the beginning of a project to develop a framework for needfinding in the Internet Freedom Space, the SecondMuse team got together to brainstorm a list of potential interviewees based on our own knowledge of and relationships within the space. We created a Google document that everyone on the team had access to where we input names, contact information, assigned responsibility for initial contact, identified the relationship of the interviewee to the Internet freedom space, and tiered our list by priority level. Our initial target group of interviewees included academics, users, funders, intermediaries, and developers. Later, we simplified the stakeholder groups to just three: developers, users and intermediaries. The intermediary group included trainers, funders, advocacy groups and academics. We also compiled a general list of questions we would ask of everyone as well as subsets of questions tailored for each stakeholder group. We then tested our interview guide with trusted allies within the space to get a better sense of flow, timing and to see if the wording of the questions was soliciting the information we were seeking. 2). During the Interview Format: Typically an interview lasts 60 to 90 minutes and in person is ideal, but audio-only will work if in person is not possible. We recommend two interviewers attend each interview; one to lead and the other to take notes. Recording is helpful in terms of keeping other teammates in the loop and/or going back to clarify points where the notes are unclear. When taking notes, it is best to take notes in the actual words and sentences used. Shorthand can change the meaning of a statement significantly; also pay attention to more than just the words used, but also the tone and flow of how words and concepts are related. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
34. 32 Privacy: Before you begin an interview, seek to understand the privacy needs of the participants. This includes whether or not they are comfortable being recorded, with interviewers taking notes, and what information is OK to make note of - such as names and affiliations. Helpful Tips: build trust by being your authentic self and leave space for your interviewee to do the same. Listen closely to what they are excited about, the things that are meaningful to them and make space to connect over it. It may seem silly, but ALWAYS ask people to define concepts in their own words don’t assume even the most basic concept is universally understood. A few examples are terms such as ‘usable,’ ‘privacy’ and ‘secure.’ These terms mean different things to different people, make sure you understand their meaning when they are using terms that you use and are important for your work. The SecondMuse team consisted of three core researchers. All three of us participated together in the first couple interviews to normalize and, thereafter, we conducted interviews in pairs. For each interview, we identified a lead from the SecondMuse team who was responsible for coordinating logistics with the interviewee, personalizing the interview guide, and leading the interview. The interview lead is also responsible for explaining the process, asking for privacy permissions, and beginning the recording. For in-person interviews, we used handheld recording devices with USB connections to plug directly into our computers (less than $100). When the interview was over the phone, we used TurboBridge, which allows you to record the call. We would explain the process for the research and the interview, ask permission to record and then let the interviewee know when we started the recording. In terms of the role of the second interviewer, typically we would support the lead interviewee by taking notes (housed in a Google document repository) and asking questions that the lead interviewee may have overlooked. 3). After the Interview Synthesize Take-Aways: After you complete your interview, review your notes and summarize the key learnings with your interview partner. It is best to do this as soon after the interview as possible while your memories of it are fresh. This practice will help immensely when analysing the results of your work later. Over time, our team prioritized taking 10 minutes after the interview in a neutral setting (either by hanging up or leaving the location and going to a nearby coffee shop) to write down the key takeaways at the top of the notes document. It was crucial to do this while we were both fresh (even if we were tired) because it was hard to go back and make sense of the notes, but also made it easier to go back and find key themes. Example and Additional Resources There are four complete interview guides included in the Appendix of this report. You can find these in Appendices 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
35. 33 INTERCEPT INTERVIEWS Definition Intercept Interviews are designed to increase understanding and dialogue through a series of quick questions that take no more than 10 to 15 minutes of dialogue. Overview A key component of human-centered design is to meet people where they are and be open to unexpected encounters with relevant stakeholders. Intercept interviews are a tool that prepares you for a quick and meaningful dialogue when time is limited to 10 to 15 minutes and/or when you have an unexpected encounter with a relevant stakeholder. The human-centered design process requires flexibility and adaptation and intercept interviews equip you with tools to engage in quick, meaningful dialogue despite constraints; intercept interviews are a short series of questions that aim to get at the core of something you desire to understand from a particular stakeholder. Why Interview intercepts are an important tool that can be adapted to varying scenarios such as unexpected encounters, limited time with many subjects, or to understand the relevance of a particular stakeholder or group. How Typically Intercept Interviews are selected questions around a very targeted topic you seek to understand. Often Intercept Interviews are selected from a longer Interview Guide and are used in situations where a full interview is not possible, necessary or likely. Your first intercept question should always be intended to understand who the stakeholder is and create a human connection between the stakeholder and yourself that is conducive to opening dialogue. Two researchers from SecondMuse attended a Tor Developer Meeting in Iceland last February. The goal of spending time at this meeting was to observe, interview and gain an understanding of how developers approach the development process and talk about and understand their users. Over the course of three days, the Tor developer team worked on their tool, and the SecondMuse did our best to not interrupt the flow or schedule by having shorter one-on-one engagements with participants. Originally we planned to do more full interviews, but we realized the most effective way to engage the developers was over a few quick questions that in total took 15 to 30 minutes to answer rather than 60 to 90 minute interviews. For those willing to spend a bit longer with us, we paired a series of intercept questions with a visual exercise (described later). The intercept approach enabled our team to engage with more people at the meeting than had we strictly focused on conducting interviews alone. Whenever possible we conducted intercepts as pairs, but at times we were separated and conducted them on our own to have wider coverage. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS 4
36. 34 Example and Additional Resources: Intercept questions should quickly get at information that would be valuable in addressing your research questions. They can be questions drawn from a general interview guide but should not be questions that require a great deal of contextual background. Here are a few examples used in the intercept interview guide for SecondMuse’s time in Dharamsala, India: ▪ ▪ Initial question should build rapport and get to know the interviewee: What do you do? Where are you from? How did you come to be interested in this area of work? ▪ ▪ How often do you think about privacy and/or security when using the Internet? ▪ ▪ Who or what comes to mind? ▪ ▪ Have you ever tried to use a new app or software that is meant to help you communicate with others and given up on it? Why did you stop using it? ▪ ▪ Let’s say your favorite communication application no longer existed and you wanted to choose a new application to chat with others. What are the most important things that app must be able to do? SecondMuse also attended the TOR Developer Meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland in February 2014. We sought to understand the perspective of the developer creating internet freedom tools. You can find the related intercept interview guide in Appendix 3.1. You can also find an example intercept guide from our time in Dharamsala in Appendix 3.2. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
37. 35 SHADOW ACTIVIT Y Definition Spending time in the natural environment of your subject to observe their everyday activities, realities and constraints and or challenges associated with a specific activities or activities in order to gain understanding and empathy. Overview The Shadow Activity allows you to learn from and observe your stakeholder without disrupting or shaping the context of your interaction with them. It also enables you to draw out contextual clues and realities that are not always obvious to your stakeholder because they are so embedded in their everyday reality. Why The Shadow Activity allows you to gain an understanding of the contextual nuances of the stakeholder(s) you are spending time with by observing and being present without interrupting the flow of their real life. By being present for an extended period of time, you are able to pick up on and observe real life flows and constraints that may not be obvious to the stakeholder, but impact the way they conduct business, communicate, and operate in their daily lives. Examples of such things that may not come up in an interview or group convening, are power outages that impact their lives and the function of the tools they use to communicate, the way they set-up of their home, office or space and its impact on their communication patterns and habits, and the tools they have available to them to conduct their daily activities, which they may be so accustomed to that they don’t explicitly call them out. How 1). Pre-Shadow Identify a time and activity: Often the most successful Shadow exercises emerge following an interview where you have identified a relevant activity with your interviewee for you to attend and observe. Typically, a Shadow Exercise requires two to three researchers who spend between four and five hours with the stakeholder. Format: Identify who from the research team will lead the interaction while another team member may record with video and a still camera, and the third member will support by taking notes. Understand the context of the situation you are observing. For example, if you are attending the first four hours of the day at a local radio station, know the schedule, who will be present and where you will be spending time. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS 5
38. 36 2). During the Shadow Introduce yourselves, explain why you’re there, be friendly, smile and develop a sense of rapport with those in the room, and then sit back and observe. Pay attention to the environment, how the room is set up, familiarize yourself with the technical tools available and constraints that impact the flow of the work and the day. Throughout the activity, the lead should ask many ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions to understand what you are observing, but also be able to fade into the background to observe as well. Be prepared to pull individuals aside for more formal Intercept Interviews or full Interviews (see above) as relevant. For the notetaker, be sure to timecode the notes, delineate questions and answers, bracket thoughts that are yours, and pay attention to environmental factors such as number of times the power goes out, etc. Lastly, be sure to take notes in as close to the actual words of the participant as possible to stay true to their intent and nuance. 3). After the Shadow Sit down as a group at a neutral place NOT in the presence of the stakeholders to pull key takeaways from the experience and different observations each of you had regarding the experience. Take note of what was interesting and/or plain weird. Example and Additional Resources For the Dharamsala research the SecondMuse team conducted an Activity Shadow with Voice of Tibet, a radio and online news provider. After having an initial interview with the editor, the team came back the following day to observe a new meeting in the newsroom where stories were pitched, assigned and provided support. During the course of the observations we learned about what tools were used and how the different news desks – Tibetan, international, cultural news, etc. - were organized. We also observed the power going out a number of times and the internet failing. When asked earlier about how the newsroom works and what meetings were like, the challenges like electricity failing were never mentioned. If we had not been there, we would have missed some vital information on how people work and their workarounds to get their stories out on time. We were also able to observe what sites and sources journalists were using. We were surprised to learn that Facebook was one of the main news sources to not only verify, but also give a “human face” to major news events like Tibetan rights being shared at a UN convening and the protesting that happened outside of the meeting. Sample Schedule: 1. Introductory Interview (30 minutes) 2. Shadow Activity (30 minutes to an hour) to see your participants in their element. 3. Communications Tour (one hour) to see and understand the technological tools and constraints present. 4. Follow-up Questions (one hour) 5. Offsite Internal Team Brief (one hour) FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
39. 37 We had a series of activities at our disposal to use during the shadowing if needed. Here are a couple of examples, the full list can be found in Appendix 4.1. Spending so much time with the team at Voice of Tibet built warm personal connections in addition to the great things we learned while we were with them. After the shadow activity we thanked everyone for their time and expressed our appreciation for the work that they do. The complete shadow activity guide that was created can be found in Appendix 4.1. Sample Activities: Introductory Interview: 1). Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Who you are? What you do here? 2). When you hear the terms communication privacy and security, what do you think of? 3). How does what you described fit into your work? Daily life? Communications Tour (focusing more on the object than the behavior) Ask how they use and who they are communicating with via: ▪ ▪ phone ▪ ▪ computer ▪ ▪ in-person ▪ ▪ analog (notebooks, etc.) FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
40. 38 VISUAL EXERCISES Definition A visual exercise is an activity that engages the participant in physically drawing or writing ideas on paper, followed by time for participants to share and answer questions about what they created. Overview Participants are asked to spend time individually or in small groups to draw or write their response to a set of questions and instructions using paper and markers. Afterwards participants are asked to share what they have created and questions are asked to draw out more detail on interesting insights that arise. Why Activities that engage the creative side of a participant helps unlock insights that may otherwise go unnoticed. Visual exercises are a valuable complement to other research activities that focus solely on verbal communication. Insights often arise through these activities that would not have emerged otherwise. How: Revisit your research goals and think about which questions could be answered visually. These are often questions in which there is a lot of information to extract that could potentially be delivered more effectively in a visual manner - such as a map of communications. Build a self-explanatory set of instructions for the participant. A visual exercise should contain a brief summary and set of questions that allow a participant to guide themselves through the activity with only a short introduction. Set the stage for your participants. Tell your participants what you will be doing and why. Give them a clear sense of how the next period of time will be used and what the goals are so there are no unknowns. Be careful to avoid the use of words like this will be ‘simple’ or ‘easy’ as it might not be that for everyone. Give people adequate time and quiet to reflect and work. Don’t feel a need to make conversation, but let your participant focus. Follow up each exercise with a sharing and discussion period. After an exercise is completed, ask participants to share what they created with the group. It is generally not necessary for each person to share everything. The purpose is to draw out unique insights and understand when there is broad support for ideas that are expressed. When a participant shares a potentially unique insight, ask probing questions and have them express the idea in more depth. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS 6
41. 39 Don’t give specific examples unless necessary. Telling your users how another individual or group completed the exercise can quickly lead to bias in the response of a participant. Use only broad suggested such as “diagrams, photos, or even just text are acceptable.” Only resort to specific examples if the participants appear to struggle with which direction to take. These exercises can be adapted to suit your goals and needs. These exercises are templates that can be modified to suit your particular goals and needs. You can adapt the tool design exercise, for example, to have users co-create a UI for a specific element of a tool. Alternatively, you could adapt the connectivity exercise to focus exclusively on mobile communications. Remember ▪ ▪ Translate your visual exercises into the local language. ▪ ▪ Have plenty of paper and markers on hand for participants to use. ▪ ▪ Ask your participants to write their name or common identifier on the exercises so you can tie them into notes from verbal communications. Let’s take a look at the instructions created for one of the example exercises in this framework, the Connectivity Exercise. The set of instructions here are brief and self-explanatory. Paper with these instructions, along with blank paper and drawing materials, should can be distributed while the overall purpose is reviewed. These are some guidelines for preparing and running a visual exercise: In the next 5-10 minutes please (draw a picture, diagram, write out the following) complete the following task: Who, what, how, do you stay in touch with family, friends, and colleagues? We are interested in learning more about how you and/or your organization communicates and shares ideas and specifically what do you use to do it. Please tell us more about how you communicate by drawing and answering the following questions in two scenarios - Professional & Personal: ▪ ▪ Who are you communicating with? ▪ ▪ What type of information are you communicating? ▪ ▪ What access to communication technology do you have? What tools are you using? ▪ ▪ Mobile, Text, Computer, Type of software, In-person, Paper, etc...? ▪ ▪ What’s the result of your communication? FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
42. 40 We’ll come back together and discuss what you’ve created for 10-15 minutes. We are going to cover a wide set of topics in the conversation. In some cases we’ll be asking what appears to be more basic question. We’ll do this so that, instead of making assumptions, we get your perspectives and your definitions in your own words. SecondMuse utilized a group convening as the setting to conduct these exercises in Dharamsala, India with the Tibetan Exile Community. That meant that a group of participants was gathered in the same place, and we had built some rapport with them before going on to this exercise. By the time we began this activity we had already had a lot of discussion as a group about different communication-related topics. We distributed printed instructions to everyone before going over them so everyone could follow along. We gave brief context for the activity, but focused largely on helping everyone feel comfortable by reminding them it was a tool for expression and not a test. We reiterated that participants could express themselves in any way they want whether that means drawing a picture, a diagram, or simply writing out their thoughts. But beyond that we did not give any instructions that were not on the printed instructions so we did not risk biasing the outcome. Despite our desire to not bias the outcome, we did walk around the room and make ourselves available to anyone who had questions, though there were few. We did not suggest our opinion on the work they were creating and largely left everyone to themselves while they were drawing their responses. Once everyone was done, about fifteen minutes later, we gathered the group together and had everyone share what they created. We asked everyone to signal agreement when someone expressed something that they also expressed in their visual exercise. It was during this question and answer period that the most interesting nuggets of knowledge emerged. Following someone along as they walked through a diagram or a drawing was not only interesting, it was deeply informative. Examples and Additional Resources This framework provides examples of five different visual exercises that SecondMuse created for their research activities. Each of these can be found in the appendix. Below are brief descriptions of each. Remember that these are starting points - you can craft your own to address your goals and research questions. Exercises for Users: These exercises are best used to understand how a user interacts with communication technology, perceives their own security threats, and to understand what elements of security and communication are important priorities for them. It is recommended that they are used in sequential order. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
43. 41 Connectivity Exercise (Individual Activity, 5-10 minutes). This activity engages participants in understanding how they think and behave regarding everyday communication. This exercise intentionally does not mention security, privacy, or Internet freedom. By removing those elements from the picture, one can get a more holistic and unbiased view about how an individual uses and values communication. Visualize Your Communication Safety (Individual Activity, 5-10 minutes). This activity is best conducted following the connectivity exercise. Now that users have visualized their own communication priorities, the next step is to understand perceptions around security and privacy threats. The use of the word “safety” here is intentional: we are choosing a word that is ideally less loaded than “privacy” or “security.” Please feel free to insert your own language as needed for the group you are working with. Design Your Ideal Communication Tool (Group Activity, 2-3 people per group, 20-30 minutes). Users form groups, selected on their own or by a facilitator, and design a communication tool. The means of this design is open for interpretation, but groups are highly encouraged to draw our visuals representing their tool on pieces of paper. After the design session, each group will “pitch” their tool back to a larger audience. This “pitch” is also open for interpretation but it is suggested that participants come up with a commercial-style presentation to “sell” the tool to the audience, focusing on what makes it special and useful. This approach brings out a strong emphasis on what can be interpreted as key features of the tool. It is strongly recommended that this visual exercise is conducted after participating in the other two user-focused exercises. Inserting this exercise early on can be challenging and overwhelming. By using the other exercises first, the participants will develop their opinion on important elements for this exercise. Exercises for Working with Technology Creators: In addition to exercises to better understand users, there are two exercises to better understand developers. These can be used in conjunction with the user-centric exercises to understand and check assumptions that are present in the development of a tool. These exercises do not need to be used sequentially. Map Your Development Process (Individual or Group Activity, 5-10 minutes). This exercise offers the participant the opportunity to express how they approach the development of their tool. This tool could be a software tool, but the exercise can also be modified to think of “tool” in the broader sense such as a training curriculum, a report, or outreach materials. Who Is Your User? (Individual Activity, 5-10 minutes). This exercise is meant to draw out insights as to how a developer understands their users. These can reveal important design considerations, or preconceived notions that may or may not be true. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
44. 42 FACILITATING GROUP CONVENINGS Definition A Group Convening is a multi-hour session where people spend time together discussing a curated set of topics and activities to unlock needs through group dynamics. Overview Communication is social. Getting groups of people together in a similar or shared social network to talk about it is another way to understand needs that lay the foundation of IFTs. During each gathering, which usually last between two and four hours, participants are encouraged to tell stories to each other through designed activities. You listen for the language that they use, the emotional quality of their experience and what they think is important. The same skills you use in an interview around active listening and asking follow-up questions and seeking clarity on common terms like “usability”, “privacy”, and “security” still apply in this method. Some of the activities you design are meant to help you understand how they see the world working, associated with your research topics, others offer an opportunity for participants to co-design and create solutions to the needs, threats and problems they have shared with you. The following outlines an approach to learning about security, privacy and communication preferences, behaviors and motivations through designing a set of specific activities for a group of people. Why The group convening methodology is designed to draw out both areas of consensus and the social tensions that emerge when groups have conflicting points of view. In addition to spending time with multiple people to get a diversity of points of view; this research method also gives you the opportunity to observe a community in action. How One way to think about a Group Convening is it is a series of activities with an interview interspersed. The number of people included can range, but ideally you should have 4-8 people able to participate the entire time. Given that this involves connecting with multiple people and needing to capturing the data and information shared, it is even more important to have at least one other person that can facilitate this with you. If this convening requires a translator, it will on average take double the time. Consider cutting back the number of participants and/or activities so you can keep everyone engaged and have enough time to go through topics thoughtfully. The following are the basic parts of a group convening. These can be determined based on your research questions and how you want to use the time of the group: FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS 7
45. 43 1) Pre-Convening Establish Location Group convenings can be done in a range of settings, but generally speaking more comfortable settings have a positive effect. Group convenings held in a comfortable living room of someone’s home, or a pleasant outdoor setting on a nice day are good examples of this. Use what is available to you. Interview Host Your host is the person who is responsible for inviting others to the convening with you, and possibly hosting the convening itself. You should talk to the host and help them have an understanding of the types of people you are looking for so they can invite the guests that can help your the most. If you haven’t had a chance to interview the host before to understand who they are and their connection to the guests they are inviting, set-up 30 minutes before the convening to do an interview (See Conducting Interviews section for more details) 2) Group Convening Welcome Balance interviewing and shadowing. You want the participants to feel comfortable around you. Get to know them and break the ice – be mindful of cultural norms -- say hi, ask them about their families, how they know the host, and so forth. Make sure to establish rapport without disturbing the group dynamic. Before you begin, introduce yourself and your team and give a brief overview of how they will be spending time with you. In the welcome also inquire about privacy and security needs (See Conducting Interviews for more details). Warm-Up Activity ▪ ▪ This is the first time the group is doing something together. They are getting used to each other and especially you and your team. ▪ ▪ Warm-Up activities should be designed to have no right or wrong answer. Make that explicit. The intention is to get participants warmed-up to telling stories about their personal experiences as well as to get comfortable commenting on what others have shared. ▪ ▪ With that said have this activity be an opportunity to explain or share something that they are familiar with. In the case of SecondMuse’s fieldwork in Dharamsala, we asked each participant to tell us about their mobile device - how do you use it?, favorite apps, etc. 2-3 Interactive Activities ▪ ▪ More often than not these are activities that allow people to create either individually or in a small group or set of pairs and then share with the larger group in the form of a debrief or in some cases a presentation. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
46. 44 ▪ ▪ The activities and debrief length can vary, but on average, think about the entire time you have set-up with the host and guests and budget time for your activities accordingly. In the example from Dharamsala, the SecondMuse team facilitated 3 interactive exercises and used a team break-down of 1.5 hours to do all 3. ▪ ▪ Your role is to make sure people clearly understand the directions, have the materials they need to complete them, and to facilitate conversations when the larger group comes back together ▪ ▪ For each of the activities generate 3-5 facilitation questions to help the group share what they were working on. Some of these questions should be about specific parts of the activity while others should be ones that reflect the main themes of the research. ▪ ▪ Please see Visual Exercises for more details on how to design some of the activities you can use in a gathering. Special Note: Be prepared to adapt exercises as you get to know the audience better. You now have a plan, but you can change the order of activities, skip activities, spend less or more time on activities, etc... Just communicate with your co-facilitator(s) so they know. Wrap-Up This is the opportunity to revisit any interesting topics that came up over the time together and bring up areas of interest that you may have missed. By this time, people are the most comfortable with you and each other so feel free to ask those “tough” and specific questions. Also, use this time to ask them how this experience was for them and if there are things that we didn’t discuss that would be important for you to know. 3) Post-Convening Thank the host and have a ~15 minute wrap-up interview with them. Ask them how they thought the event went and any other lingering questions you may have. Example & Additional Resources In Dharamsala the SecondMuse team hosted convenings in a home of a trusted couple in the Tibetan community. For one of the convenings we had a total of 7 participants from a variety of backgrounds - including journalists and activists. The gathering was designed to include a couple of large group discussions, exercises that paired participants together, and an opportunity to explore an Internet Freedom Tool in its prototype form. Keeping in mind the research goals and questions, along with the dynamic of the group, the SecondMuse team made adjustments along the way to the Sample Agenda below, but were still able to do all of the activities. One of the exercises that participants enjoyed the most was an opportunity to design their ideal communication tool and pitch it to each other. In small FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
47. 45 groups, they drew their design, explained the needs that it addressed and how other Tibetans would learn about it. There was also a Q&A portion for other participants to ask questions and make suggestions. In some cases during the convenings we had a translator and in others there was enough proficiency and comfort in English that we could facilitate the gathering ourselves. If you are in a situation where translation is needed, please review the Privacy, Cultural Understanding, and Translation section, and plan accordingly. A detailed agenda for this group convening which include instructions for conducting each part of it is available in Appendix 6.1. Sample Agenda: Welcome & Intros (30-45 min) ▪ ▪ Overview ▪ ▪ Warm-Up Questions Activities & Exercises (1.5 hours) ▪ ▪ Connectivity Exercise ▪ ▪ Visualize Your Communication Safety ▪ ▪ Design Your Ideal Communication Tool Tool Feedback Exercise (45 minutes) ▪ ▪ Overview of the Tibetan News Reader - see if anyone has heard of it or has used it ▪ ▪ Opportunity to download and start to use (break participants into pairs or triads) ▪ ▪ Feedback session Closing (.5 hours) FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
48. 46 DEVELOPING PERSONAS Definition Personas represent a composite of users with common behaviors, attitudes and motivations who exhibit similar behavioral patterns in their use of information and technology to achieve a goal. Overview Personas offer a promising approach to incorporating user voice into the development process. They are a way for you to start seeing your user beyond their interactions with computers, servers, and mobile devices. The following provides guidelines for how to create your own personas and some examples of personas that are used in the IFT space. Why Personas give us the opportunity to walk in the shoes of users and other influential stakeholders not only as they engage with tools, but also to better understand how they live their lives. This activity will allow us to better understand their communication, security and privacy needs by collecting and summarizing a group of people’s thinking in one place. The act of creating and using personas is another way for us to build empathy and understanding of another person’s point of view; thus improving the design and refinement process of development. Creating a persona can be helpful once you have completed your research phases and want to understand the key insights, motivations and needs of groups of people. In addition to helping with analysis, once personas are created, they can be used to help with the continued design and development process, because they are a litmus and ground your development process in what is actually happening to your users on the ground. Personas distill the things you’ve heard and learned and help you answer the question “Now, what do I design for someone like you and others that are similar?” How Personas are typically 1-2 pages in length and include at least 1 representational image of the person and “facts” about that person. Think about it like a baseball card or a brief character summary. You won’t need to put every detail about all of the similar people you’ve spoken with, but you will need to highlight and summarize the most important information about this group that will help in your design and understanding of that population. Remember that this “person” can be composite of multiple people with the same ideas and needs, and any personal information can be anonymized or removed. As part of this, you will need to identify the most important “fact” or categories that help you understand who this population or group of people is. Here are some you can begin with that are relevant to the IFT space that were used in SecondMuse’s Dharamsala research. As always with the Internet Freedom Needfinding framework, these are just starting points and you can further develop them and shape them depending on your research questions, needs and focus: FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS 8
49. 47 SecondMuse developed a series of categories for personas created through their work with the Tibetan Exile Community in Dharamsala. These categories were based on the goals and research questions established early on in the process. The categories developed for other projects may be different depending on differing goals and research questions. Below many of the categories below are examples of information that can be included. The full, detailed example is in Appendix 7.2. The person in this example, Pema, is a composite of multiple individuals working as coordinators at nonprofits in Dharamsala. ▪ ▪ Name: This can be a pseudonym. Pema. ▪ ▪ Occupation: Describe their occupation in detail, not just with a single descriptor. Program Manager and Community Outreach Coordinator at Youth For Tibet, an international group whose mission is... ▪ ▪ Background: Establish an understanding of this person’s background, particularly in relation to the work they do or the topic at hand. Pema, her aunt and little brother left Tibet when she was 10 years old. She has been living in Dharamsala ever since... ▪ ▪ Motivations: Explain why does this person do what they do, in particular what motivates their work and actions. Pema and her colleagues as predominantly focused on “keeping the struggle alive” for Tibet to be free. She is dedicated to… ▪ ▪ Challenges: Describe the challenges this person faces in their work and day-to-day life as it relates to the topic at hand. To communicate with the vast network of regional and local chapters. To verify that the correct information is being sent to members and not altered by outsiders... ▪ ▪ Communications - Who, What, How?: Explain who this person communicates with, what are they communicating and how do they conduct this communication. Who: Colleagues, regional organization leads... What: Protests and demonstrations by local groups, learnings from… How: Social Media - Facebook, apps like Weibo... ▪ ▪ Goals: Express this person’s goals, particularly as they relate to the topic at hand. Keep the Tibetan struggle alive in the eyes of youth, everyday people and... FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
50. 48 ▪ ▪ Definition of Security: Define how this person understands and expresses the meaning of security. Even though Pema and her organization have “nothing to hide” and are nonviolent they know they are a target. Security is... ▪ ▪ Key Technologies Used Regularly: List regularly used technologies this person uses, such as mobile communication applications. Gmail, Google Drive, Viber, phone, post, Facebook, KaoKao, Weibo... ▪ ▪ Threat Perception: Describe how this person thinks about and perceives the threats they face. This may include both objectively validated threats and personal thoughts and feelings about threats - both provide valuable information (but be sure to distinguish between the two). They often have their website attacked through attachments that are sent via email saying it is coming from someone at the Central Tibetan Administration or... ▪ ▪ Security Precautions: Explain how this person manages security concerns through both tools and behaviors. Remember that “tools” can include techniques and actions that they have established on their own. After a training from Tibet Action, she and her team have started to use Gmail (before they used Yahoo Mail), Google Docs and have developed a system that... After completing the persona of Pema an image was used to represent her and the persona was included in the report Understanding Internet Freedom: The Tibetan Exile Community. Examples & Additional Resources Personas can be presented in many ways. A number of example personas created based on the time SecondMuse spent with the Tibetan Exile Community can be found in Understanding Internet Freedom: The Tibetan Exile Community. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
51. 49 DESIGNING THE ANALYSIS PROCESS Definition Analysis is the opportunity to understand what you are experiencing in your research. It encompasses a series of activities that can be done alone or in a group that allows you to think differently and empathetically about your users. Overview Making sense of what you are seeing and hearing from users and other influential stakeholders is the most important and valuable part of the Needfinding process. There are a lot of ways to do this, but the following are a few activities that can help you and your team translate user experiences into helpful guides to your tool development process. You can use all of these or a few of these. The important thing is spending time thinking about the user experience. Have fun and be creative coming-up with ways that can help you and your team understand users and the information you have gathered. Why Spending time asking “why”, looking for patterns in the data you’ve collected, and staying true to uncovering answers to your Research Questions is a critical part of human-centered design. The analysis process gets you to the insights and learnings that are potentially transformative for a community versus just one person. Instead of moving from observation (“I saw this”) to solution (“I will make this”), dig deeper into what is going on in this situation and how this relates to other things you have learned along the way. For example, just jumping from “I saw one person use Google Drive” to “all IFTs should be able to interface with Google Drive” doesn’t capture all of the learning. Ask yourself “who”, “what”, “when”, “where” and “why” and that will not only get to a deeper insight, but it will also help you prioritize what needs to be a part of your tool. How Analysis can happen anytime during your Needfinding process. The more frequently you do it the more you are able to make changes and update the way you conduct research to hone in on the things that matter most. Similarly, understanding what you are learning along the way allows you to start to test hypotheses in real-time with users and influential stakeholders and helps you start to see how what you are learning can shape the tool design, implementation and follow-up with users. Debriefing Research Visits After every type of research visit - from Interview to a Group Convening - you and your team should spend some time talking about what you learned, witnessed, and experienced as a whole. Here are some things to discuss that can help you with your debrief session: ▪ ▪ Initial Impressions. ▪ ▪ Write down key take-aways - information you learned that struck you as particularly meaningful, interesting, or useful to your work. ▪ ▪ Review basic facts about the participant(s). ▪ ▪ Share key stories about the participant(s)’ life and priorities. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS 9
52. 50 ▪ ▪ Discuss participant(s)’ social connections & roles in their community. ▪ ▪ Document definitions or points of view around key topics and terms; for example “security”, “privacy”, “threats”, and “communication.” ▪ ▪ Share anything you found strange or interesting in general. Write the top takeaways at the top of your notes that way you have the ability to quickly skim the top learning and go deeper at another time. This process also makes it easier for others that may not have been on the site visit to go back and understand what you have learned. Immediately after your visit spend at least 10-15 minutes capturing this information. You can always come back and add more, but things are freshest right after a visit so you might as well start then. Reviewing Research Notes, Video & Recordings In general it is a best practice to review your notes (or any other way you captured your experience with users and stakeholders) from the research visits; especially if you have a team and not everyone was able to be a part of the visits. Each time you look at them you will see something different informed by what you are learning along the way. Answering the Research Questions You have spent time at the beginning of your Needfinding process identifying the key questions and topics you want to learn more about (See Establishing Goals & Research Questions). This has informed your research process and recruiting of participants. Go back through your notes, visual exercises and your own thoughts and musings. Use these to start answering your Research Questions. Doing this activity will also let you know where you need more “data”. These answers can already be incorporated in your design, implementation and user feedback navigation or prioritization process. Capturing Top Stories A great way to kick-off a deep dive into users is to step back and think about a couple (2-3) of stories of things that you saw, read or experienced with users that you thought was unusual, insightful, and keep a running list. Those stories will help lay the groundwork for the development of personas, updates to your funder and other developers interested in what you are learning. If you are on a team, do this with your teammates as a way to “warm-up” before jumping into other tasks. This is one way to help keep users in mind throughout your development process. Identifying Needs One of the most asked things of users is “what do you need?” or “what do you want?” This is often a very difficult thing for users to articulate clearly. It is easy to say we need a developer to help with viruses when you get attacked on an ongoing basis or more funding or time. It can be more challenging and more time consuming, however, to reach a point where users can say I need a way to verify that what I am sending actually gets to the right person without any changes to the content. That’s where you come in and the analysis process to identify needs; which are the things you can help your user with. Needs are living and active and as a result can be expressed and/or felt by users in different ways. One way to think about a need is as the thing that is missing. It is a requirement - psychological, physical or cultural - that is evident in an individual and/or a group. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
53. 51 How do we start identifying “what’s missing?” Go back to the key stories and questions where users were expressing pain points, successes they have overcome and roles in their job or their mission and use that as a way to start to identify their needs. An important thing to remember is needs are verbs not nouns. That means that if you are talking to a news outlet that is in a situation where the electricity is constantly going out their need isn’t “to have a generator”. Their need is to have consistent access to a power source in order to complete work tasks, for example. If we just left it at “generator” we are eliminating other solutions that could be developed like a battery or solar panels or a whole host of things. Once these verb- based needs are identified you can start to brainstorm solutions for them; thus another way to generate more ideas that are grounded in what is happening to our users. Developing & Designing Based on Personas Personas are a great way to help you and your team make sense of the different types of people and in particular users that are a part of your tool ecosystem. The actual act of creating personas is an analysis process. See Developing Personas to learn more about how to design and use personas. The use of personas can be a helpful design check. Analyzing Visual Exercises Having participants design and create in their own words and images is a powerful way to understand who they are - motivations, priorities and needs. However; not everyone is articulate and even though you have had a conversation with them about what they have created, including follow-up questions, there is still a need to spend time and look at what they have made. Similar to the debrief process, spend time pulling out the top takeaways from their exercise and have that written down in the notes document. Once you have gotten a couple of people who have done the exercise you can start to compare and look for patterns - similarities and differences - across how someone approached, for example, the Connectivity Process of the Tool Development Process. Identifying & Understanding “Tools” Used by Users This can include actual IFTs that were developed by yourself and others and “tools” that the users themselves designed and are using. In addition to listing these in a central place the next step is determining when, where, how and why a user is choosing this tool. By unlocking the scenarios of use, you will be able to gain a deeper understanding of motivations, needs and challenges of tools. Things that people have cobbled together may not seem sophisticated or helpful at first, but they tell an important story and analyzing them allows you to determine what design cues and principles may be helpful in your own design. For example, when the SecondMuse team met with a large activist group with chapters all over the world, the administrative body explained to us that they are often subjected to people sending viruses through attachments. If they need to send each other an attachment they will use a group chat on Viber to notify everyone that an email is coming with an attachment and that it is in fact from one of their colleagues and they can open it. This process of attachment verification doesn’t mean design a group chat app, but points to the need for people to verify certain types of communication. This learning opens the door to many different solutions that you and your team can come-up with. If you had stopped with writing down Viber, you would have missed the connection to the development process. This is one of many learnings from just one explanation of someone creating their own “tool”. FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS
54. 52 This appendix contains example templates, instructions and exercises for the framework elements detailed in the previous section. It is best to engage with these appendices by first reading through the framework element you wish to utilize, and then examining the associated appendix that is referenced there. Remember that these examples have been created for specific research projects that SecondMuse has conducted and you will need to appropriately contextualize and adjust them for your work. APPENDIX
55. 53 This is the research plan that the SecondMuse team developed for fieldwork in Dharamsala, India. This should be treated as an example. The form and format can be adapted for your own purposes. Goals & Outcomes Why are we conducting this research? What do we want to get out of it specifically? What are the desired outcomes? ▪ ▪ To understand frames of meaning, personal experience, behaviors, priorities, and emotions as it relates to communication, use of tools and perceptions of security and privacy among the Tibetan diaspora within Dharamsala (Empathy Trip) ▪ ▪ To explore and test human-centered design practices/approaches to uncover needs and their application to the development process □ □ Understand what developers can utilize to better understand the needs of users in general. □ □ To test the effectiveness of our overall research process, so it can be refined and ultimately replicated elsewhere. ▪ ▪ To be able to speak to, document, share user experience with IFTs firsthand (build body of knowledge) ▪ ▪ Identify key needs that users have in Dharamsala, which can help others build better tools for this community. Research Questions Are there specific topics or questions that need to be answered with this research? This is a good place to list them. This is typically a list of 5-10. ▪ ▪ What is “meaningful” communication? □ □ What are the most common use cases of communication technology in which security/privacy may be a concern? □ □ What are the priorities for an individual when they are communicating? □ □ How do individuals in Dharamsala define privacy and security? ▪ ▪ What differences are there in needs and the uses of tools, based on spectrum of technical literacy? □ □ Also: based on your mission, your job, (other points on the spectrum - what are the differences in needs/uses of tools based on these things) ▪ ▪ Do individuals utilize Internet Freedom tools? Why or why not? ▪ ▪ What are the security-related behaviors that individuals employ in their daily communication activities? How are these reflected (or not reflected) in the technology they choose to use? APPENDIX 1.1 - DHARAMSALA, INDIA RESEARCH PLAN Appendix 1.1 - Dharamsala, India Research Plan ▪ ▪ Goals & Outcomes ▪ ▪ Research Questions ▪ ▪ Approach ▪ ▪ Activities ▪ ▪ Selection Criteria ▪ ▪ Draft Schedule ▪ ▪ Contact and Travel Info APPENDIX 1.1 - DHARAMSALA, INDIA RESEARCH PLAN
56. 54 ▪ ▪ What are the things a user considers when making a security-related decision online (even if they do not realize they are making a security-related decision)? □ □ How might these considerations translate into more usable software? ▪ ▪ What are the most relevant pieces of info that would help a developer build a tool more effectively for people in Dharamsala? Meta Themes As we interview and observe participants keep in mind these larger issues we are exploring. ▪ ▪ Draw out learnings that may be transferable to other communities of users. ▪ ▪ Understand how developers have interacted with users here in the past, and how that relates to what we have heard from developers themselves on their end-user interactions. ▪ ▪ How might what we learn integrate into a developer’s development process? Approach & Activities How are we defining the research activities to get to the goals? This is an overview of the different types of research activities, including # and type of participants, locations, etc. This may be primary research, secondary, etc. ▪ ▪ Interviews ▪ ▪ Intercepts ▪ ▪ Activity Shadows (watching people use the internet, phone, etc.) □ □ Shadow the accidental technologist at work AND the formal technologist □ □ Activists/Journalists/CTA ▪ ▪ Observations - witnessing day to day life, surroundings (Immersive Environments) □ □ internet cafes □ □ university □ □ office space □ □ events/meetings of activists and journalists ▪ ▪ Groups Exercises/Storytelling/Co-creation □ □ Intro □ □ Who: Journalists, Activists - may be we can see if the CTA could do this together □ □ Focused on Tools - how have your found, identified or used tech securely? □ □ Co-creating ideal communication support □ □ Discovery process of tool engagement - find out the info, learn and decide to use it (Storytelling prompt?) □ □ Debrief ▪ ▪ Visual Exercises □ □ Mapping - This is how I communicate and get my job done. □ □ Draw a representation/diagram of the security threats you face as an “Internet user” APPENDIX 1.1 - DHARAMSALA, INDIA RESEARCH PLAN
57. 55 □ □ Draw the development process. ▪ ▪ Both by developers, and non-developers who may have a role in the development process. Participant Goal: 25+ total participants. ▪ ▪ Interviews: 5+ ▪ ▪ Intercepts: 15+ (tend to get more of these than interviews) ▪ ▪ Shadows: 2+ ▪ ▪ Group Exercises: 2+ Selection Criteria Criteria to consider for selecting research locations, participants, organizations, etc. ▪ ▪ Look for participants that fit into these roles: □ □ Central Tibetan Administration □ □ Journalists □ □ Activists □ □ Communicators ▪ ▪ May be part of another user type. □ □ General Public □ □ Local Tool Developers □ □ Accidental Technologist ▪ ▪ May be part of another user type Team & Roles Who’s going on the fieldwork, # of people in-field, etc. What are the roles in-field (i.e. leading, taking notes, video, etc.) Katey, Roxann, and Mike will be in the field with support from our on the ground stringer, [Name Redacted]. The team will alternate participating in activities with a general “two-on then one-off” rule, meaning each team member will get one break for every two activities that they participate in. We will all meet as a team every morning for breakfast and debrief as a team every evening during or after dinner. The team will alternate the roles of leading activities, taking notes, and collecting additional documentaiton such as photos. Draft Schedule [sample section, sensitive information redacted] WED March 19: ▪ ▪ Fieldwork Day #3 ▪ ▪ Breakfast Meeting: 8:30am @ Moonpeak Espresso ▪ ▪ Morning [Organization Name Redacted]: 10 am APPENDIX 1.1 - DHARAMSALA, INDIA RESEARCH PLAN
58. 56 □ □ Could be an hour-long meeting to ask some of the questions. Get to know what he does. How he is doing it. Then potentially set up follow-up meetings. □ □ Smaller space but should be fine. □ □ May be some English translation issues. □ □ Shadow Opportunity ▪ ▪ Explain Shadow □ □ LEAD: Roxann □ □ NOTES: Katey ▪ ▪ Afternoon: 2:30 [Organization Name Redacted] □ □ [Redacted] org in the tibetan community not run by the gov’t. 2 or 3 of the staff are communicators - mostly about information gathering on human rights issues in Tibet. □ □ Meeting with director; 6 to 7 staff (director speaks English well; 4 Tibetan staff; 2 to 3 western volunteers) □ □ LEAD: Katey □ □ NOTES: Roxann ▪ ▪ POST-Interviews: Recap Meeting & Learnings THU March 20: ▪ ▪ Fieldwork Day #4 ▪ ▪ 9:30 am: [Organization Name Redacted] Venue - [Location Redacted] □ □ LEAD: Mike □ □ Notes: Roxann ▪ ▪ 11 am [Organization Name Redacted] - the only Tibetan organization that [redacted]. □ □ [individual roles redacted] □ □ [organizational summary redacted] □ □ Shadow Opportunity (Confirmed) □ □ Explain Shadow □ □ LEAD: Roxann □ □ NOTES: Katey ▪ ▪ 2pm- [Individual Name Redacted] - [Organization name Redacted] - Morning - Tentative - □ □ Does all of the tech/networking for [Organization Name Redacted]. □ □ English not a problem. □ □ LEAD: Katey □ □ NOTES: Mike Contact and Travel Info PHONE CONTACT Cell phone #s of people traveling together APPENDIX 1.1 - DHARAMSALA, INDIA RESEARCH PLAN
59. 57 Michael: 555-555-5555 Katey: 555-555-5555 Roxann: 555-555-5555 HOTEL INFO Name, address, phone # of hotel New Delhi: [Hotel Information: Address, Dates, Contact Info] Mike: March 12th - 15th Roxann/Katey: March 14th - 15th Dharamsala: [Hotel Information: Address, Dates, Contact Info] All: March 15th - 28th FLIGHT INFO Arrival/Departure and in between Mike [Flight Information] Katey [Flight Information] Roxann [Flight Information] APPENDIX 1.1 - DHARAMSALA, INDIA RESEARCH PLAN
60. 58 Overview This is an empathy trip. We are trying to get a greater understanding of where developers are coming from and what’s important to them as they engage in the world of Internet Freedom. Although we are particularly interested in user engagement, we must let the participant “set the agenda” - talk about things they want to address in the order they would like. That in and of itself helps us learn more about them. We can guide that process based on what we want to understand, but it is important that we seek to understand their point of view first before sharing our own views. Agenda & Event Info: ▪ ▪ https://blog.torproject.org/blog/join-us-tor-project-developers- meeting-reykjavik-iceland-february-17-21-2014 ▪ ▪ https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/ meetings/2014WinterDevMeeting Goals & Outcomes Why are we conducting this research? What do we want to get out of it specifically? What are the desired outcomes? ▪ ▪ To increase our understanding of the development process ▪ ▪ To understand Tor developers’ frames of meaning, personal experience, behaviors and emotions. As well as security, privacy, community building, user engagement/role of users, what’s important to developers. ▪ ▪ To uncover assumptions about user’s role in the development process, the connection that developers have with users, prioritization of security and privacy as it relates to designing for users ▪ ▪ To obtain feedback on framework deliverables from the perspective of what is both valuable and engaging to developers. Research Questions Are there specific topics or questions that need to be answered with this research? This is a good place to list them. This is typically a list of 5-10. ▪ ▪ What excites developers about the work we are doing? (language, facet, etc.) ▪ ▪ Understand the mindset of developers and their language □ □ Privacy □ □ Security □ □ Collaboration APPENDIX 1.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) RESEARCH PLAN Appendix 1.2 - TorDev (Iceland) Research Plan ▪ ▪ Overview ▪ ▪ Goals & Outcomes ▪ ▪ Meta Themes ▪ ▪ Research Questions ▪ ▪ Approach ▪ ▪ Selection Criteria ▪ ▪ Team & Roles ▪ ▪ Draft Schedule ▪ ▪ Contact & Travel Info APPENDIX 1.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) RESEARCH PLAN
61. 59 ▪ ▪ How do developers think about users? □ □ Do developers desire to engage more effectively with users? □ □ If so, where do they see their current form of engagement as lacking? □ □ What are their preconceived notions about how to do so? ▪ ▪ What does it mean to be a part of the Tor Community/IFT Community? □ □ What role does the user play within the Tor community? ▪ ▪ What can we create that will be additive as opposed to ‘just another thing?’ ▪ ▪ Understand the tool development process □ □ How do developers approach the development process from the perspective of usability? □ □ What are the biggest challenges (pain points) in their development process? Meta Themes As we interview and observe participants keep in mind these larger issues we are exploring. ▪ ▪ Understand the mindset of developers and their language □ □ Privacy □ □ Security □ □ Collaboration ▪ ▪ Do developers desire to engage more effectively with users? □ □ If so, where do they see their current form of engagement as lacking? □ □ What are their preconceived notions about how to do so? ▪ ▪ What does it mean to be a part of the Tor Community/IFT Community? □ □ What role does the user play within the Tor community? ▪ ▪ Understand the tool development process ▪ ▪ How do developers approach the development process? □ □ What are the biggest challenges (pain points) in their development process? Approach How are we defining the research activities to get to the goals? This is an overview of the different types of research activities, including # and type of participants, locations, etc. This may be primary research, secondary, etc. We will use a combination of ethnography techniques for this deep dive in Tor’s development process and community. Each of the techniques will work together to help us achieve the goals listed above. ▪ ▪ Intercepts: 10 to 20 ▪ ▪ Long interviews: 5 to 7 ▪ ▪ Drawing exercise: 5 to 7 □ □ Possible Approach: Set up a place to allow individuals to come up and do these exercises on their own. Also have post-its so people can comment and ask questions. APPENDIX 1.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) RESEARCH PLAN
62. 60 ▪ ▪ Shadows/Observation: □ □ Tor Lessons Learned □ □ Journalist Training - Digital Safety Tools □ □ Hackathons ▪ ▪ February 20: Invitation Hack Day - 9:30 am start, Grand Hotel - members of our community are invited to this day of hacking, working, conversations, presentations □ □ [Name Redacted] - ask and meet right away □ □ [Name Redacted] - ask □ □ [Name Redacted] & [Name Redacted] - ask ▪ ▪ February 21: Public Hack Day - 9:30 am start, Grand Hotel ▪ ▪ Informal conversations: TBD (as often as possible) Selection Criteria Criteria to consider for selecting research locations, participants, organizations, etc. ▪ ▪ Tor is one of the biggest in this space. Much like Dharamsala - robust community of user-types in one location - will get a great selection of people involved in the space even though this is focused on Tor Specific Individuals to connect with: ▪ ▪ [Name Redacted] suggested people in email ([Name Redacted] - ally/friend, [Name Redacted], find [Name Redacted], [Name Redacted], [Name Redacted] of [Organization Redacted] is also there) ▪ ▪ [Name Redacted] Team & Roles Who’s going on the fieldwork, # of people in-field, etc. What are the roles in-field (i.e. leading, taking notes, video, etc.) Katey & Roxann will be in the field with support from Mike. We plan to have a mid-way check-in to discuss how things are going and what we need to update. We’ll do our best to stay together to conduct research and will take turns leading and recording. Draft Schedule This is a general sense of how the research may go – and will be refined once we get on the ground and learn more about the convening. This should include team meetings and debriefs, travel time, as well as participant research slots. APPENDIX 1.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) RESEARCH PLAN
63. 61 MON TUES WED THURS FRI ALL DAY Planning & Finishing Materials TRAVEL 6:00 AM/ 6:45AM Arrive 8:30am Acclimate & Socialize 9:30am 1) Invitation Hack Day (Grand Hotel) 2) Journalist Training - Digital Safety Tools (Grand Hotel) Public Hack Day (Grand Hotel) ~10:15am Meet with Karsten (Galleri Rm in Grand Hotel) ? Team Check-In 6:30pm Tor Lessons Learned http://en.ru.is (Reykjavik University Room M101, Menntavegur 1, 101 Reykjavick) APPENDIX 1.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) RESEARCH PLAN
64. 62 MATERIALS ▪ ▪ Recorders ▪ ▪ Markers ▪ ▪ Pens ▪ ▪ Interview Guides ▪ ▪ Staplers ▪ ▪ Paper ▪ ▪ Folders ▪ ▪ Tape ▪ ▪ Post-its - square and rectangular ▪ ▪ Blue Tape Contact & Travel Info PHONE CONTACT Cell phone #s of people traveling together Katey: 555-555-5555 Roxann: 555-555-5555 HOTEL INFO Name, address, phone # of hotel [Hotel Information] FLIGHT INFO Arrival/Departure and in between Katey [Flight Information] Roxann [Flight Information] APPENDIX 1.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) RESEARCH PLAN
65. 63 This interview guide was created for interviews conducted during our initial landscape phase of our research. This is a very general guide which was reduced in scope prior to each interview to reflect that particular interviewee’s range of expertise. It is rare for an interview to cover every question in the guide, so particularly important questions and statements are bolded for visibility. Introduction (5 mins) Introduce interviewers. ▪ ▪ Explain the Project □ □ SecondMuse is… □ □ SecondMuse is a firm that focuses on innovation and collaboration to solve complex challenges. Our work focuses on bringing together diverse sets of partners and perspectives to create sustainable solutions for communities, cities, industries and beyond. We work with nonprofits, foundations, all sizes of companies, as well as government agencies to leverage various stakeholders’ talents toward a unified mission/solution. For this particular project, we received funding from OTF. □ □ Through this project, we seek to better understand the internet freedom tool development process and the context under which users employ IFTs. The initial phase of research is focused on understanding the landscape of the space and the tool development process. In March, we will be on the ground with users to better understand the context under which they employ IFTs. We will use ethnographic methods such as shadowing, interviewing and focus groups to better understand users’ daily lives. Based on our findings, we aim to provide a framework for the ITF community, specifically developers, to more effectively and efficiently develop contextually relevant tools in the future. □ □ We are talking to you because…/Goal of this work □ □ We will also be talking to…. ▪ ▪ Researchers ▪ ▪ Developers ▪ ▪ Intermediaries (i.e. trainers and localization services) APPENDIX 2.1 - INTERNET FREEDOM & DHARAMSALA LAND- SCAPE ANALYSIS INTERVIEW GUIDE Appendix 2.1 - Internet Freedom & Dharamsala Landscape Analysis Interview Guide ▪ ▪ Introduction (5 mins) ▪ ▪ Understand The Interviewee (5 mins) ▪ ▪ General Questions (15-20 mins) ▪ ▪ Specific Questions (20-25 mins) ▪ ▪ Developers ▪ ▪ Intermediaries (Funders/Advocacy/etc.) ▪ ▪ Location Selection (5 mins) ▪ ▪ Project Output (5 mins) ▪ ▪ Wrap-Up (5 mins) ▪ ▪ Post-Call Action Items APPENDIX 2.1 - INTERNET FREEDOM & DHARAMSALA LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS INTERVIEW GUIDE
66. 64 APPENDIX 2.1 - INTERNET FREEDOM & DHARAMSALA LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS INTERVIEW GUIDE ▪ ▪ Funders ▪ ▪ Logistics □ □ The interview will take 60 minutes; we will be taking notes. □ □ In March, we aim to be on the ground working with users and upon completion of our study, we will submit recommendations to OTF. Our results will be shared publicly. □ □ All of our findings will be shared in aggregate, and we will not attribute anything to you personally without first clearing it with you. ▪ ▪ Before we get started, I just wanted to make sure: □ □ Are you comfortable with us recording this call/session for internal note-taking purposes? □ □ Do you have any questions before we get started? Understand The Interviewee (5 mins) ▪ ▪ What do you do? ▪ ▪ Who do you work with? ▪ ▪ What does your organization do? General Questions (15-20 mins) The next set of questions are general questions we are asking of everyone to better understand the Internet Freedom Tool landscape. ▪ ▪ Defining the Internet Freedom Tool Space (15-20 mins) □ □ How would you define the IFT/IFS? Who are the key participants and stakeholders in the space? □ □ In your opinion, what have been the biggest successes in this space? What have been the biggest challenges? □ □ What are the most pressing needs currently in the Internet Freedom Space? □ □ What are key trends and approaches you see happening currently in the Internet Freedom Space? □ □ Who are the key influencers? □ □ How would you describe the relationships among individuals or organizations in the space? □ □ What actors are missing? □ □ Who in this field, in your opinion, is doing the best job of building tools for users? □ □ Can you share an example of a failure in this space that resulted from inadequate understanding of user needs? A success? □ □ When, if ever, are usability issues and security issues the same? □ □ Can you share an example? ▪ ▪ Your Org in the Internet Freedom Tool Space (10 mins) □ □ How does your organization/your role fit in the field? /How would you describe your relationship to others in the field? □ □ What are your needs? (i.e., what’s keeping you up at night?)? □ □ Optional: Are you involved in any partnerships/collaborations? If so, what do they look like?
67. 65 Specific Questions (20-25 mins) Developers ▪ ▪ What does the software development process look like for your tool? □ □ How do you decide to implement a new feature? ▪ ▪ Who are your users? □ □ What do you know about the lifestyle/conditions/context of your user? ▪ ▪ How do you identify the needs of your end users? ▪ ▪ How do the needs of your end users affect the development process? ▪ ▪ How are threats identified, and how do they fit into the development process? □ □ Do you frame your work as a response to threat models? □ □ If so, how do you identify what those threat models are? ▪ ▪ How do the users of your tool find it and identify it as something they need? ▪ ▪ How would you define your top user communities, by size and priority? ▪ ▪ Are there ways you would like to engage/understand users of IFTs, but haven’t been able to? Can you explain? ▪ ▪ What are the biggest barriers between you (or your org) and users? Intermediary organizations? ▪ ▪ How did you decide to develop (or join developing) the tool(s) you work on? ▪ ▪ Who develops your tool? □ □ Do you have paid staff? Community of volunteer developers? □ □ How do they understand the needs of the users of your tool? Intermediaries (Funders/Advocacy/etc.) ▪ ▪ FUNDERS ONLY: What are your funding priorities in the IFT space, and why? ▪ ▪ Can you describe the populations you work with. □ □ Follow-up: Who are the users you work with? ▪ ▪ Can you describe your relationship with users of IFTs? ▪ ▪ How do you figure out the needs of the populations you work with? □ □ What do you know about their lives? □ □ How do you gather this information? □ □ How are those needs communicated with developers? Used to influence your work? □ □ What are the biggest barriers between you and users? ▪ ▪ INTERMEDIARY ONLY: Do you validate the threats that users perceive? How so? ▪ ▪ Are there ways you would like to engage/understand users of IFTs, but haven’t been able to? Can you explain? ▪ ▪ Can you describe your relationship with developers? □ □ What are the biggest barriers between you and developers? □ □ What are some of the most effective developers you’ve interacted with and why? Least effective? Why? ▪ ▪ Optional: In conclusion, what are your biggest needs to accomplish your work in this space? APPENDIX 2.1 - INTERNET FREEDOM & DHARAMSALA LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS INTERVIEW GUIDE
68. 66 Location Selection (5 mins) ▪ ▪ ALL: Location Selection (5 mins for developers/10-15 minutes for Intermediaries/funders) □ □ Are there locations, groups, tools we should consider focusing on for this study? If so, who are they and why? □ □ We have been considering going to Dharmasala because we have existing relationships there. What do you think of this? □ □ Do you have any relationship to users/organizations there or elsewhere? Project Output (5 mins) ▪ ▪ Given what you know of our work so far, what would you like to see us produce that could be of value to you? ▪ ▪ What would success of our project look like to you? ▪ ▪ Who else do you think we need to talk to? ▪ ▪ Is there anything else you think we should read? ▪ ▪ Are there events/lectures/conferences happening over the next 6 months that you think we should know about and/or be at? Wrap-Up (5 mins) ▪ ▪ Is there anything else we have not discussed that might be important for us to know for our work? ▪ ▪ Thank interviewee for their time. (If they are awesome, leave the door open to come back to them.) □ □ Would it be alright if we came back to you if we have any more questions? Post-Call Action Items ▪ ▪ Thank you email. ▪ ▪ Potential Follow-Ups □ □ Second Interviews □ □ Potential Follow-Up Survey □ □ Invitation for Feedback on our Work APPENDIX 2.1 - INTERNET FREEDOM & DHARAMSALA LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS INTERVIEW GUIDE
69. 67 This interview guide was created for interviews conducted during the phase of our research that immediately preceded our fieldwork in Dharamsala, India. This is a very general guide which was reduced in scope prior to each interview to reflect that particular interviewee’s range of expertise. It is rare for an interview to cover every question in the guide, and before each interview questions were prioritized for that particular interviewee. Introduction (5 mins) Introduce interviewers. ▪ ▪ Explain the Project □ □ SecondMuse is… □ □ SecondMuse is a firm that focuses on innovation and collaboration to solve complex challenges. Our work focuses on bringing together diverse sets of partners and perspectives to create sustainable solutions for communities, cities, industries and beyond. We work with nonprofits, foundations, all sizes of companies, as well as government agencies to leverage various stakeholders’ talents toward a unified mission/ solution. For this particular project, we received funding from OTF. □ □ Through this project, we seek to better understand the internet freedom tool development process and the context under which users employ IFTs. The initial phase of research is focused on understanding the landscape of the space and the tool development process. In March, we will be on the ground with users to better understand the context under which they employ IFTs. We will use ethnographic methods such as shadowing, interviewing and focus groups to better understand users’ daily lives. Based on our findings, we aim to provide a framework for the ITF community, specifically developers, to more effectively and efficiently develop contextually relevant tools in the future. □ □ We are talking to you because…/Goal of this work □ □ We will also be talking to the following types of experts with a focus on Dharamsala, Tibet or India... APPENDIX 2.2 - DHARAMSALA PRE-FIELDWORK INTERVIEW GUIDE Appendix 2.2 - Dharamsala Pre- Fieldwork Interview Guide ▪ ▪ Introduction (5 mins) ▪ ▪ Understand The Interviewee (5 mins) ▪ ▪ General Questions (15-20 mins) ▪ ▪ Specific Questions (20-25 mins) ▪ ▪ Cultural Content Experts Only ▪ ▪ Technical Content Experts Only ▪ ▪ Human Rights & Journalism Content Experts Only ▪ ▪ Ethnography & Human-Centered Design Content Experts Only ▪ ▪ On-The-Ground Work Questions (5-10 mins) ▪ ▪ Project Output (5 mins) ▪ ▪ Wrap-Up ▪ ▪ Post-Call Action Items APPENDIX 2.2 - DHARAMSALA PRE-FIELDWORK INTERVIEW GUIDE
70. 68 ▪ ▪ Cultural Content Experts ▪ ▪ Technical Content Experts ▪ ▪ Human Rights and Journalism Content Experts ▪ ▪ Experts in Ethnographic and Human-Centered Design Work. ▪ ▪ Logistics □ □ The interview will take 60 minutes; we will be taking notes. □ □ In the end of March, we aim to be on the ground working with users and upon completion of our study, we will submit recommendations to OTF. Our results will be shared publicly. □ □ All of our findings will be shared in aggregate, and we will not attribute anything to you personally without first clearing it with you. ▪ ▪ Before we get started, I just wanted to make sure: □ □ Are you comfortable with us recording this call/session for internal note-taking purposes? □ □ Do you have any questions before we get started? Understand The Interviewee (5 mins) ▪ ▪ What do you do? ▪ ▪ Who do you work with? ▪ ▪ What does your organization do? General Questions (15-20 mins) The next set of questions are general questions we are asking of everyone to better understand the Internet Freedom Tool landscape. When we ask particularly broad or particularly specific questions, feel free to adjust the scope to fit your experience and comfort. ▪ ▪ What is your experience related to Dharamsala? ▪ ▪ Based on your experience, what does privacy mean to people living in Dharamsala? How important is it to them? ▪ ▪ Based on your experience, where does privacy & security fit into your work priorities? ▪ ▪ Who are the people or organizations in Dharamsala in relation to the work you are doing, and why? Specific Questions (20-25 mins) Cultural Content Experts Only ▪ ▪ What are the most pressing sociopolitical issues to be aware of in Dharamsala? ▪ ▪ What are the dominant cultural frameworks in Dharamsala we should be aware of? □ □ What are any cultural taboos we should know/avoid to conduct research? □ □ Cultural Norms? - Food, Religion, Dress, Language □ □ What are the cultural norms for entering/exiting a home, gov’t building, and/or business? □ □ Are there going to be language barriers on the ground? APPENDIX 2.2 - DHARAMSALA PRE-FIELDWORK INTERVIEW GUIDE
71. 69 □ □ What are gender dynamics in D? □ □ What is proper attire / in-field dress? □ □ What are greetings? Ways we can build repertoire? ▪ ▪ How do people most commonly use communication technology and/or the Internet in Dharamsala? Technical Content Experts Only ▪ ▪ What Internet Freedom tools are being used actively on the ground in Dharamsala, or have been used actively in the past? ▪ ▪ What are the most common use-cases for communication technology in Dharamsala? ▪ ▪ Are there documented cases of surveillance by China? What are they? ▪ ▪ What are potential adversaries in Dharamsala? (China? Phishers? Botnets?) Human Rights & Journalism Content Experts Only ▪ ▪ Can you share with us what missions human rights organizations have had in Dharamsala? □ □ Do you or did you see a role for IFTs in these missions? Why or why not? □ □ What would you say are the biggest security/privacy concerns for this group? How would you describe the security concerns for this group? Ethnography & Human-Centered Design Content Experts Only You may ask these in general, but if you are speaking to someone that has worked in Dharamsala or India, please ask them to relate their answers to that specific context as well. ▪ ▪ What approaches and techniques have been helpful/most effective in capturing data that truly represents a person’s experience? Which are not? ▪ ▪ What are the best ways to build rapport? ▪ ▪ What are things that we should be mindful of in conducting our research? ▪ ▪ What advice would you give us knowing the types of things we seek to learn? ▪ ▪ What are not to miss places, experiences we should have in D? India? ▪ ▪ What did you do to become acclimated to the culture and communication styles? ▪ ▪ What are must haves when conducting research in D? India? ▪ ▪ What are the most effective, non-intrusive recording/capturing tools? □ □ Advice on using them? ▪ ▪ What are some best practices for analysis in the field? On-The-Ground Work Questions (5-10 mins) ▪ ▪ What types of potential or current users should we to talk to in Dharamsala? ▪ ▪ Are there specific individuals that we should talk to before we go or while we are there? ▪ ▪ We are considering spending some time in Delhi prior to going to Dharamsala. Do you have suggestions on APPENDIX 2.2 - DHARAMSALA PRE-FIELDWORK INTERVIEW GUIDE
72. 70 organizations or individuals we may want to meet with in Delhi? Project Output (5 mins) ▪ ▪ Given what you know of our work so far, what would you like to see us produce that could be of value to you? ▪ ▪ What would success of our project look like to you? ▪ ▪ Who else do you think we need to talk to? ▪ ▪ Is there anything else you think we should read? ▪ ▪ Are there events/lectures/conferences happening over the next 6 months that you think we should know about and/or be at? Wrap-Up ▪ ▪ Is there anything else we have not discussed that might be important for us to know for our work? ▪ ▪ Thank interviewee for their time. (If they are awesome, leave the door open to come back to them.) □ □ Would it be alright if we came back to you if we have any more questions? Post-Call Action Items ▪ ▪ Thank you email. APPENDIX 2.2 - DHARAMSALA PRE-FIELDWORK INTERVIEW GUIDE
73. 71 APPENDIX 2.3 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK INTERVIEW GUIDE This interview guide was created for interviews conducted in the field in Dharamsala, India. This is a very general guide that was repurposed for a wide range of organizations and individuals. It was reduced in scope and modified prior to each interview to reflect that particular interviewee’s range of expertise. It is rare for an interview to cover every question in the guide, and before each interview questions were prioritized for that particular interviewee. Some generally prioritized questions are bolded here. Interviewer Notes ▪ ▪ There are many questions which could easily drift away from our research topic. This can be OK - but be aware and strike the right balance. If necessary, add qualifiers to questions to keep them on target. ▪ ▪ We use the term “internet freedom” throughout. This can be replaced by other related terminology as appropriate. Experiment, and note what resonates. Possible terminology: □ □ communication technology □ □ surveillance / risk of surveillance □ □ communication security □ □ free, safe, and surveillance free communication □ □ free and open access to the internet Introduction ▪ ▪ Introduce interviewers. ▪ ▪ Explain the Project □ □ SecondMuse is a firm that focuses on innovation and collaboration to solve complex challenges. Our work focuses on bringing together diverse sets of partners and perspectives to create sustainable solutions for communities, cities, industries and beyond. We work with nonprofits, foundations, all sizes of companies, as well APPENDIX 2.3 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK INTERVIEW GUIDE Appendix 2.3 - Dharamsala Fieldwork Interview Guide ▪ ▪ Interviewer Notes ▪ ▪ Introduction □ □ Pre-Interview Questions □ □ Understand The Interviewee ▪ ▪ General Questions ▪ ▪ Specific (By Topic) □ □ Communication and Information □ □ Perceptions on Privacy / Security □ □ Internet Freedom technology ▪ ▪ Specific Questions (By Participant Group) □ □ Government Official □ □ Journalist □ □ Activist □ □ Communicator □ □ Technologist / Hacker ▪ ▪ Wrap-Up
74. 72 as government agencies to leverage various stakeholders’ talents toward a unified mission/solution. For this particular project, we received funding from Radio Free Asia. □ □ Through this project, we seek to better understand the internet freedom tool development process, the context under which users employ IFTs, and build a framework to support developers in their efforts to understand and address the needs of users. □ □ We are spending time in Dharamsala, India. We are spending time in Dharamsala, India to learn about the needs of individuals as they related to privacy, security, and free access to the Internet. We will use ethnographic methods such as shadowing, interviewing and focus groups to better understand daily lives of people living and working here. Based on our findings, we aim to provide support to Radio Free Asia and the IFT community, specifically developers, to more effectively and efficiently develop contextually relevant tools in the future. □ □ We are talking to you because you represent a member of [insert participant group]. We would like your personal perspective on the questions below, which will help us fully understand the needs and challenges of developers working on IFTs. ▪ ▪ Logistics □ □ The interview will take 60 minutes; we will be taking notes. □ □ All of our findings will be shared in aggregate, and we will not attribute anything to you personally without first clearing it with you. □ □ We may share the raw notes from this interview with our funders at OTF, but not beyond that group. We will remove your name from all notes if we do so. Pre-Interview Questions ▪ ▪ Are there any security concerns we should be aware of related to this interview and documentation or conversations relating to it? ▪ ▪ (If necessary) May we take photos or video? What restrictions should we be aware of? ▪ ▪ Are you comfortable with us recording this discussion for internal note-taking purposes? ▪ ▪ Do you have any questions before we get started? Understand The Interviewee ▪ ▪ Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. General Questions The next set of questions are general questions we are asking of everyone to better understand the Tibetan diaspora. ▪ ▪ Tell us about a day in your life. Can you walk us through what that is like? ▪ ▪ What is the mission of your organization, and what is your role in helping to achieve that mission? ▪ ▪ What are the most important topics of discussion within the Tibetan diaspora? □ □ What are the most important concerns of the Tibetan diaspora in general? APPENDIX 2.3 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK INTERVIEW GUIDE
75. 73 Specific (By Topic) The next set of questions are questions specifically related to (Internet Freedom). We are asking these to better understand what’s happening in the Tibetan diaspora privacy and security. Communication and Information ▪ ▪ How do you communicate with people? What are you sharing? □ □ What are some barriers associated with this work related to communications ▪ ▪ What challenges do you regularly face in your day-to-day work? ▪ ▪ Can you walk us through how you would solve a problem in your organization? ▪ ▪ How do you learn about new technology such as apps, social media, phones? □ □ If they say a friend: Tell us about them, where do they learn about them? What kind of person are they? Why do they know before you do? ▪ ▪ What activities occur day-to-day that are related to security and/or communication? Perceptions on Privacy / Security ▪ ▪ * What security measures do you employ when performing your daily work? ▪ ▪ * Have security needs ever been a barrier to you performing your job? Are there times where they could have been a barrier but you surpassed it? Tell us about it. ▪ ▪ What does safe communication on the Internet mean to you? To your organization/community? ▪ ▪ What is required to safely communicate with another person on the Internet? ▪ ▪ * Do you believe that you or others in your community (potential) targets of surveillance when communicating? Tell us about it. □ □ Are there risks involved with this? □ □ Do you take measures to mitigate these risks? □ □ If so, who would be surveilling you? Why? □ □ What steps do you take to circumvent this? Why? ▪ ▪ * What security, privacy, censorship or surveillance threats are present in the Tibetan community? □ □ What about for you or your organization in particular? ▪ ▪ What are the concerns or worries on the front of your mind when using the Internet or other forms of communication? □ □ What are the biggest threats you face in internet freedom? □ □ How did you discover these worries/threats? ▪ ▪ Tell us a story about a challenge you or your organization faced related to concerns of privacy or security. □ □ FOR CONSIDERATION: Prompt that this should be related to technology / the internet / communications. □ □ How did you resolve or attempt to resolve this challenge? □ □ Did you utilize any tools or technology to help resolve this challenge? If so, what? □ □ Who was a part of the process to decide to use that tool? ▪ ▪ Is there a role for technology to help in mitigating privacy or security threats? APPENDIX 2.3 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK INTERVIEW GUIDE
76. 74 Internet Freedom Technology ▪ ▪ Do you use, or have you ever used, software that was intended to help manage your privacy or security online? Tell us about it. □ □ What technology or tools have you used? □ □ What was your experience like when using them? ▪ ▪ Do you interact at all with software developers? □ □ If so, how? If not, why? ▪ ▪ What would your ideal relationship be with developers? □ □ What developers are the most responsive to you and others in your focus area? □ □ What does their responsiveness look like? ▪ ▪ If you had a developer in front of you right now, what is the one thing they should know that would make your life easier? ▪ ▪ Do you use software to circumvent surveillance? □ □ If so, which software? Specific Questions (By Participant Group) Government Official ▪ ▪ What are the security threats you consider when performing your day-to-day activities? ▪ ▪ Has anyone ever tried to teach you how to use a Internet Freedom technology? □ □ If prompting is needed: such as PGP, Tor, YakChat, Redphone, Textsecure? Journalist ▪ ▪ What are the technical capabilities of the sources you interact with? □ □ If prompting needed: How do they communicate on the Internet? What is their level of technical education? ▪ ▪ What is your communication process for posting and sharing what you are working on? □ □ Do you share/post publicly? Internally? □ □ If so, what value do you derive from it? Activist ▪ ▪ Have you ever made a decision not to do something or communicate something because of a security risk? Tell us about it. ▪ ▪ Tell us about a time you had to communicate with others about something sensitive related to your work. □ □ What went through your mind when deciding to communicate? □ □ What decisions did you make in the moment? ▪ ▪ Were any of them related to security or privacy concerns? APPENDIX 2.3 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK INTERVIEW GUIDE
77. 75 Communicator ▪ ▪ What does it mean to be a communicator? ▪ ▪ How might your needs related to privacy and security differ from others in Dharamsala or the greater Tibetan community? ▪ ▪ What are your primary concerns related to privacy and security? Technologist / Hacker ▪ ▪ Have you ever actively participated in the development of an Internet Freedom tool? □ □ What role have you taken in relating the needs of a community or individual to other developers of that tool? ▪ ▪ What is your software development process like? □ □ How do you decide to implement a new feature? ▪ ▪ Who are your users? □ □ What do you know about the lifestyle/conditions/context of your user? □ □ How do you identify the needs of your end users? □ □ How do the needs of your end users affect the development process? □ □ How do the users of your tool find it and identify it as something they need? ▪ ▪ Do you see a disconnect between users, developers, intermediaries? □ □ Does that create problems? □ □ What could help bridge that disconnect? ▪ ▪ Do you frame your work as a response to threat models? □ □ How are threats identified, and how do they fit into the development process? ▪ ▪ How did you decide to develop (or join developing) the tool(s) you work on? ▪ ▪ What from our work can add value to you? Wrap-Up ▪ ▪ Are there any activities going on in the next two weeks that you feel might be particularly interesting for us to observe? ▪ ▪ Given what you know about our work and our goals, what can we do or create that would be most valuable to you? □ □ (Non-developer) If developers could take away one thing from all of this to know and understand, what might it be? ▪ ▪ Now that we’ve spoken with you, who else that is here should we talk to? ▪ ▪ Is there anything else we have not discussed that might be important for us to know for our work? ▪ ▪ May we contact you with more questions? If so, what is the best way to reach you? ▪ ▪ Thank interviewee for their time. (If they are awesome, leave the door open to come back to them. ▪ ▪ Follow-Up Option: □ □ Another Interview or Meeting APPENDIX 2.3 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK INTERVIEW GUIDE
78. 76 APPENDIX 2.4 - TORDEV (ICELAND) INTERVIEW GUIDE This interview guide was created for interviews conducted at the Tor Developer Meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland. It was modified in scope and modified prior to each interview to reflect that particular interviewee’s range of expertise. It is rare for an interview to cover every question in the guide, and before each interview questions were prioritized for that particular interviewee. Some generally prioritized questions are bolded here. Introduction (5 mins) Introduce interviewers. ▪ ▪ Explain the Project ▪ ▪ SecondMuse is… □ □ SecondMuse is a firm that focuses on innovation and collaboration to solve complex challenges. Our work focuses on bringing together diverse sets of partners and perspectives to create sustainable solutions for communities, cities, industries and beyond. We work with nonprofits, foundations, all sizes of companies, as well as government agencies to leverage various stakeholders’ talents toward a unified mission/solution. For this particular project, we received funding from OTF. □ □ Through this project, we seek to better understand the internet freedom tool development process, the context under which users employ IFTs, and build a framework to support developers in their efforts to understand and address the needs of users. □ □ The initial phase of research is focused on understanding the landscape of the space and the tool development process. We are spending time here in Iceland to get to know more developers and understand what their priorities are when creating tools so we can best serve them. Then, in March, we will be on the ground with users to better understand the context under which they employ IFTs. We will be spending time with users in Dharamsala, India. These users are members of the Tibetan community, and their adversary in the security context is the Chinese government which regularly spies on them. We chose this location for its clear threat model (the adversary is the Chinese government), existing work related to Internet Freedom Tools that has occurred there, and the interests of our funding organization Radio Free Asia. We will use ethnographic methods such as shadowing, interviewing and focus groups to better understand users’ daily lives. Based on our findings, we aim to provide a framework for the ITF community, specifically developers, to more effectively and efficiently APPENDIX 2.4 - TORDEV (ICELAND) INTERVIEW GUIDE Appendix 2.3 - Dharamsala Fieldwork Interview Guide ▪ ▪ Introduction (5 mins) ▪ ▪ Understand The Interviewee (5 mins) ▪ ▪ General Questions (15-20 mins) ▪ ▪ Specific Questions (20 min) □ □ Development & User Engagement □ □ Security and Privacy ▪ ▪ Project Output ▪ ▪ Wrap-Up ▪ ▪ Post-Call Action Items
79. 77 develop contextually relevant tools in the future. □ □ We are talking to you because you represent the developer community. We would like your personal perspective on the questions below, which will help us fully understand the needs and challenges of developers working on IFTs. ▪ ▪ Logistics □ □ The interview will take 60 minutes; we will be taking notes. □ □ All of our findings will be shared in aggregate, and we will not attribute anything to you personally without first clearing it with you. □ □ We may share the raw notes from this interview with our funders at OTF, but not beyond that group. We will remove your name from all notes if we do so and simply identify you as a developer present at TorDev. ▪ ▪ Before we get started, I just wanted to make sure: □ □ Are you comfortable with us recording this call/session for internal note-taking purposes? □ □ Do you have any questions before we get started? Understand The Interviewee (5 mins) ▪ ▪ Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. ▪ ▪ What is your role within the Tor community? ▪ ▪ What is your role within the wider space of individuals who are involved in developing and deploying Internet Freedom Tools? General Questions (15-20 mins) The next set of questions are general questions we are asking of everyone to better understand the Internet Freedom Tool landscape. ▪ ▪ Do you have any personal experience in Dharamsala, India or the Tibetan community in general? Tell us about it. ▪ ▪ Who in this field, in your opinion, is doing the best job of building tools for users? Why? ▪ ▪ When, if ever, are usability issues and security issues the same? ▪ ▪ Can you share an example? Specific Questions (20 min) Development & User Engagement ▪ ▪ Can you describe your development process to us? You can speak to your role as an individual developer as part of a team, or the greater development process of a tool that you work on (Tor or something else). □ □ Alternative to this question - use 2nd visualization exercise: https://docs.google.com/a/secondmuse.com/ document/d/1sX5xhg_NkqX8es7tamj94kZMcILLpgRmPgxfS8HEhzE/edit?usp=drive_web ▪ ▪ Do you have any personal experience with engaging users directly? Tell us about it. □ □ Who were these users? APPENDIX 2.4 - TORDEV (ICELAND) INTERVIEW GUIDE
80. 78 □ □ What did you learn that you were not expecting? □ □ How did your perceptions of your user change, and how did that impact your development of tools? □ □ How have you engaged with users? Face-to-face? Social Media? Email? ▪ ▪ Describe a user of your tools to us. This can be a real person or a hypothetical person. □ □ (if prompting is needed) What are they like? What is their background? What are they trying to accomplish? □ □ How did you come up with this person? ▪ ▪ Are there ways you would like to engage/understand users of IFTs, but haven’t been able to? Can you explain? ▪ ▪ What are the biggest barriers between you (or your org) and users? ▪ ▪ How do the users of your tool find it and identify it as something they need? ▪ ▪ How do you measure usability of tools you develop? Security and Privacy ▪ ▪ Have you ever had an instance in developing an IFT that required you to decide between implementing something that would enhance usability and something that would enhance security? Tell us about it and how you handled it. ▪ ▪ What security and privacy practices and/or tools should we adopt when we are performing fieldwork in Dharamsala? ▪ ▪ How do you define privacy? Security? Project Output ▪ ▪ If we took the results of our work and put them in a form that is most useful to you and your development process, what form would that be? □ □ (if prompting is needed) Here are some other suggestions we have heard: ▪ ▪ A list of questions I should ask my users. ▪ ▪ Personas of different user types that I can design for. ▪ ▪ A report listing general findings on usability so I can incorporate broad themes. ▪ ▪ An organization I can reach out to in order to find intermediary groups that I can work with. ▪ ▪ ... Wrap-Up ▪ ▪ Now that we’ve spoken with you, who else that is here should we talk to? ▪ ▪ Is there anything else we have not discussed that might be important for us to know for our work? ▪ ▪ May we contact you with more questions? If so, what is the best way to reach you? ▪ ▪ Thank interviewee for their time. (If they are awesome, leave the door open to come back to them.) Post-Call Action Items ▪ ▪ Thank you email. APPENDIX 2.4 - TORDEV (ICELAND) INTERVIEW GUIDE
81. 79 This is a brief guide for intercept interviews that occurred at the Tor Developer Meeting. These questions were utilized for interviews that occurred in the moment - chance meetings, introductions, etc. This guide did not always need to be referenced directly and with some practice it was possible for the general flow and key questions could be recalled by the interviewer. Introduction In partnership with the Open Technology Fund (OTF), SecondMuse seeks to better understand the internet freedom tool development process, the context under which users employ Internet Freedom Tools (IFTs), and support greater engagement and understanding of user needs in the tool development process. Our objectives are to: ▪ ▪ Find more intersections for developers/users/funders to work together to make more robust tools ▪ ▪ Increase the ability of developers to assess the needs of users and integrate those needs into the development process ▪ ▪ Create a framework that can be used by developers to better understand the needs of users and design to address those needs Through this project, we seek to better understand the internet freedom tool development process, the context under which users employ IFTs, and build a framework to support developers in their efforts to understand and address the needs of users. The initial phase of research is focused on understanding the landscape of the space and the tool development process. We are spending time here in Iceland to get to know more developers and understand what their priorities are when creating tools so we can best serve them. Then, in March, we will be on the ground with users to better understand the context under which they employ IFTs. We will be spending time with users in Dharamsala, India. These users are members of the Tibetan community, and their adversary in the security context is the Chinese government which regularly spies on them. We chose this location for its clear threat model (the adversary is the Chinese government), existing work related to Internet Freedom Tools that has occurred there, and the interests of our funding organization Radio Free Asia. We will use ethnographic methods such as shadowing, interviewing and focus groups to better understand users’ daily lives. Based on our findings, we aim to provide a framework for the ITF community, specifically developers, to more effectively and efficiently develop contextually relevant tools in the future. A little About SecondMuse SecondMuse is a firm that focuses on innovation and collaboration to solve complex challenges. Our work focuses APPENDIX 3.1 - TORDEV INTERCEPT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Appendix 3.1 - TorDev Interview Intercept Questions ▪ ▪ Introduction ▪ ▪ Warmup ▪ ▪ Users ▪ ▪ Usability and Development Process ▪ ▪ Low Priority APPENDIX 3.1 - TORDEV INTERCEPT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
82. 80 on bringing together diverse sets of partners and perspectives to create sustainable solutions for communities, cities, industries and beyond. We work with nonprofits, foundations, all sizes of companies, as well as government agencies to leverage various stakeholders’ talents toward a unified mission/solution. For this particular project, we received funding from OTF. (Usability Definition: how someone interacts with software and how useful it is in their daily lives.) Warmup ▪ ▪ Opening engagement question about how they got involved? □ □ Goal: establish rapport □ □ How did you get involved in this meeting today? □ □ Why are you here? □ □ What are you hoping to accomplish while here? Users ▪ ▪ Think of a TOR user. Describe this person for us. ▪ ▪ How do you engage with your users? □ □ What interaction do you have with users? □ □ What interaction would you like to have with your users? ▪ ▪ What are the biggest barriers between you and your users? □ □ What do you need to close that barrier? Usability and Development Process ▪ ▪ How does the user fit into your development process? ▪ ▪ How does the usability of a tool fit into your development process? □ □ When you think about your target users, what is the relationship between a tool being easy for them to navigate and secure? □ □ Where do you see the tradeoffs between usability and security? ▪ ▪ When are those tradeoffs not worth it? ▪ ▪ When are they worth it? □ □ If someone came to you and said “here are a series of things you can do to increase the usability and usefulness of your tool among end-users,” what might your first reaction be? ▪ ▪ How does the concept of usability fit into your definition of privacy and security? Low Priority ▪ ▪ What do you see as the primary difference between security and privacy? How do you define them? How are they related? APPENDIX 3.1 - TORDEV INTERCEPT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
83. 81 This is a brief guide for intercept interviews that occurred in Dharamsala. This is a much shorter guide than the Tor Dev meeting as the opportunities for intercepts were not as high as the large number of pre-scheduled interviews. These questions were utilized for interviews that occurred in the moment - chance meetings, introductions, etc. This guide did not always need to be referenced directly and with some practice it was possible for the general flow and key questions could be recalled by the interviewer. Introduction We are working in partnership with Radio Free Asia to better understand security, privacy, and communication technology usage in Dharamsala. We would love to ask you a few questions. Questions ▪ ▪ Warm-up Questions (Communication-Related, Contextual) ▪ ▪ Do you use WeChat? □ □ Are you concerned about anyone being able to see what you communicate on WeChat? ▪ ▪ If so, who? Why? ▪ ▪ Do you take any steps to mitigate this? □ □ Have you ever considered using an alternative to WeChat? ▪ ▪ If so, what? Why? ▪ ▪ Do you use it? Why or why not? ▪ ▪ How often do you think about privacy and/or security when using the Internet? □ □ Who or what comes to mind? ▪ ▪ Have you ever tried to use a new app or software that is meant to help you communicate with others and given up on it? Why did you stop using it? ▪ ▪ Let’s say WeChat no longer existed and you wanted to choose a new application to chat with others. What are the most important things that app must be able to do? APPENDIX 3.2 - DHARAMSALA INTERCEPT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Appendix 3.2 - Dharamsala Intercept Interview Questions ▪ ▪ Introduction ▪ ▪ Questions APPENDIX 3.2 - DHARAMSALA INTERCEPT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
84. 82 This is an example guide for an activity shadow. This guide was developed for activity shadows conducted during fieldwork in Dharamsala, India with the Tibetan Exile Community. This is a generalized guide, meaning it was not created for a specific organization or person. It also contains elements that could be important for activity shadows in general but also may not be applicable for other reasons, such as instructions for a videographer which were not utilized as the context of the situation suggested we do not utilize that technique for both security and logistical reasons. Logistical Information Amount of Time: Half day Materials: Video camera, camera, notebooks, 2M cards, and waiver form Who: (draft list of people to consider shadowing) ▪ ▪ Journalists ▪ ▪ CTA Tech Department ▪ ▪ Other CTA Government Rep ▪ ▪ Student Activist ▪ ▪ Human Rights Activist ▪ ▪ Lobsang ▪ ▪ An everyday regular Tibetan Introduction We are spending the next few weeks in Dharamsala to understand people are keeping in touch with family, friends and colleagues. It is our intention to understand how you use communication technology in your everyday life (both work and home) in order to work with developers of secure communication tools to create tools that enable you to communicate more easily and securely with those around you. Why we are here? Because we would like to better understand your communication habits and challenges. We will spend the next five hours with you doing the following: ▪ ▪ Asking an initial set of questions about your communication habits and patterns. ▪ ▪ Shadowing Activities - spend time with you to understand your daily communicate and connect with people to fulfill APPENDIX 4.1 - DHARAMSALA ACTIVITY SHADOW Appendix 3.2 - Dharamsala Activity Shadow ▪ ▪ Logistical Information ▪ ▪ Introduction ▪ ▪ Pre-Shadow Questions ▪ ▪ Outline of Shadow Exercise ▪ ▪ Introductory Interview ▪ ▪ Activities APPENDIX 4.1 - DHARAMSALA ACTIVITY SHADOW
85. 83 the mission of your organization. ▪ ▪ “Communication Tour” where we will have you show us how you use various forms of communication: internet browsing, phone, text, chat, any anything else you use to accomplish your work and stay connected to your friends and family. A little About SecondMuse SecondMuse is a firm that focuses on innovation and collaboration to solve complex challenges. Our work focuses on bringing together diverse sets of partners and perspectives to create sustainable solutions for communities, cities, industries and beyond. We work with nonprofits, foundations, all sizes of companies, as well as government agencies to leverage various stakeholders’ talents toward a unified mission/solution. For this particular project, we received funding from the Open Technology Fund at Radio Free Asia. Why this exercise will ultimately be valuable to you. We are talking to you because you represent a potential user of internet freedom tools (secure texting, chatting, emailing, and anonymous web browsing). Pre-Shadow Questions ▪ ▪ Are there any security concerns we should be aware of related to this interview and documentation or conversations relating to it? ▪ ▪ Are you comfortable with us recording this discussion for internal note-taking purposes? ▪ ▪ Do you have any questions before we get started? Outline of Shadow Exercise What shadowing looks like: ▪ ▪ 2 to 3 researchers will visit the participant’s home/place of work to conduct an interview and spend time with them as they engage in regular activities in and outside of the home. ▪ ▪ The entire interaction will last between 4 and 5 hours. ▪ ▪ One person will lead the interaction while another team member may record with video and a still camera, and the third member will support by taking notes. Our time with the participant will be roughly split into five main sections: We’ll be flexible with the timing and order of the visit in order to accommodate for their schedule. 1. Introductory Interview (30 mins) – To build rapport while getting context. 2. Shadowing Activities (30 minutes to an 1 hr) – To see our participants in their element. 3. Follow-up with any questions about the activity that you APPENDIX 4.1 - DHARAMSALA ACTIVITY SHADOW
86. 84 4. “Communication Tour” (1 hr) – To further learn about them and get a sense of their environment and what tools/ equipment they use 5. Follow-up questions about communication 6. Internal: Debrief and wrap-up (30 mins) Debrief after the visit and as a larger team. ▪ ▪ Directly after completing the activity, the research team will go to a café/hotel to talk about what they saw while it’s still fresh in everyone’s minds—and get some much needed food. ▪ ▪ It’s valuable to note what was initially interesting—or plain weird—and what becomes interesting later. Tips ▪ ▪ For the lead – Facilitate in the beginning to get the participants used to explaining their answers, by asking follow-up questions like “why” and “how.” At other times, try to fade into the background. ▪ ▪ For the videographer – Assemble the camera before entering the house to save time. Once you’re there, take the time to set up the camera, lights, and sound right so that we can later have high-quality clips. ▪ ▪ For the note-taker - Try to time code questions and answers – e.g., using the following format: time code, question, answer; group discussion underneath. Time Coding is important, as it helps us look things up later! Try to capture everything in the participants’ words, and mark your own thoughts with brackets or underlining. Introductory Interview 1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Who you are? What you do here? 2. When you hear the terms communication privacy and security, what do you think of? 3. How does what you described fit into your work? Daily life? Activities We are now going to start the shadow activity (If they need help identifying shadow activity, we can suggest the following: 1. Online communications (personal and/or professional) 2. Maintaining contact with family, friends, colleagues) Shadow and follow-up: 1. What activity are we watching today? 2. Why did you decide to have us shadow you while doing this activity today? For follow-up, ask any questions about communications behaviors and/or security behaviors. APPENDIX 4.1 - DHARAMSALA ACTIVITY SHADOW
87. 85 Communications Tour (focusing more on the object than the behavior) Ask how they use and who they are communicating with via: ▪ ▪ phone ▪ ▪ computer ▪ ▪ in-person ▪ ▪ analog (notebooks, etc.) Wrap-up ▪ ▪ Thank them, ask if they have any questions, etc. APPENDIX 4.1 - DHARAMSALA ACTIVITY SHADOW
89. 87 This appendix contains three visual exercises used throughout the research process for working with users of Internet Freedom Tools. These are text-only descriptions of the exercises that include instructions for the facilitator such as questions to ask of the participants. Example worksheets are also included in this appendix, with instructions intended for the participants themselves. Note that Appendix 5.2 has two additional exercises intended for working with developers of Internet Freedom Tools. Logistical Information Amount of Time: 20-25 min per exercise Materials: Exercise Template(s), pens, and colored thin markers Introduction We are spending the next few weeks in Dharamsala to understand people are keeping in touch with family, friends and colleagues. It is our intention to understand how you use communication technology in your everyday life (both work and home) in order to work with developers of secure communication tools to create tools that enable you to communicate more easily and securely with those around you. A little About SecondMuse SecondMuse is a firm that focuses on innovation and collaboration to solve complex challenges. Our work focuses on bringing together diverse sets of partners and perspectives to create sustainable solutions for communities, cities, industries and beyond. We work with nonprofits, foundations, all sizes of companies, as well as government agencies to leverage various stakeholders’ talents toward a unified mission/solution. For this particular project, we received funding from OTF. Why this exercise will ultimately be valuable to you. We are talking to you because you represent potential users. We would like your personal perspective on the questions below, which will help us fully understand the needs and challenges you face in communication. ▪ ▪ Want to understand what matters to you in your communication so that software is developed that works for you ▪ ▪ Developers of these software tools have a better understanding of who you are and your needs APPENDIX 5.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES Appendix 5.1 - Visual Exercises ▪ ▪ Logistical Information ▪ ▪ Introduction ▪ ▪ Exercise #1: Connectivity Exercise: ▪ ▪ Exercise #2: Visualize Your Communication Safety ▪ ▪ Exercise #3: Map The Software Development Process APPENDIX 5.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES
90. 88 ▪ ▪ Sharing your ideas visually will help us share your point of view ▪ ▪ Visualization allows us to understand in a different way - another data collection method ▪ ▪ Want to share with others - visualizations are some of the most effective ways Exercise #1: Connectivity Exercise: In the next 5-10 mins please (draw a picture, diagram, write out the following) complete the following task: Who, what, how, do you stay in touch with family, friends, and colleagues? We are interested in learning more about how you and/or your organization communicates and shares ideas and specifically what do you use to do it. Please tell us more about how you communicate by drawing and answering the following questions in 2 scenarios - Professional & Personal: ▪ ▪ Who are you communicating with? ▪ ▪ What type of information are you communicating? ▪ ▪ What access to communication technology do you have?/What tools are you using? ▪ ▪ Mobile, Text, Computer, Type of software, In-person, Paper, etc...? ▪ ▪ What’s the result of your communication? We’ll come back together and discuss what you’ve created for 10-15 mins. We are going to cover a wide set of topics in the conversation. In some cases we’ll be asking what appears to be more basic question. We’ll do this so that, instead of making assumptions, we get your perspectives and your definitions in your own words. Thank You! These are some follow-up questions we can ask: ▪ ▪ How do you know if the information has gotten to the correct person? ▪ ▪ Who do you turn to to help you when something breaks down and/or becomes a challenge? ▪ ▪ Can you tell us the differences and/or similarities between “professional” and “personal” communication? ▪ ▪ When and why do you use X (reference one that they have mentioned)communication tool? ▪ ▪ What are challenges/barriers in this process? APPENDIX 5.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES
91. 89 APPENDIX 5.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES Exercise #1: Connectivity Exercise
92. 90 Exercise #2: Visualize Your Communication Safety In the next 5-10 mins please complete the following task: How do you keep your communication safe/secure? We are interested in learning more about how you and/or your organization deals with challenges to your mission and risks to safe and secure communication. Please tell us more about what difficulties you and/or your organization face and how you address them by answering the following: ▪ ▪ What is the risk, threat, challenge, difficulty? (What do you worry about?) □ □ What is the origin of the risk/threat? □ □ When does it happen? □ □ What is the frequency of this risk/threat? ▪ ▪ What are you trying to accomplish that is made difficult by the risk/threat? ▪ ▪ Who is involved? ▪ ▪ How do you currently deal with this situation? □ □ Who do you turn to for help? We’ll come back together and discuss what you’ve created for 10-15 mins. We are going to cover a wide set of topics in the conversation. In some cases we’ll be asking what appears to be more basic question. We’ll do this so that, instead of making assumptions, we get your perspectives and your definitions in your own words. Thank You! These are some follow-up questions we can ask: ▪ ▪ What do you do to feel safe? ▪ ▪ What are you currently using to protect against surveillance? ▪ ▪ Does communication technology play a role in addressing and/or causing the risk/ threat? ▪ ▪ What do you wish was in place to help you and/or your organization communicate securely/with confidence/minimize risk? If the person is comfortable we can ask if they wouldn’t mind being photographed... At the end we’ll put together a document of all of them. APPENDIX 5.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES
93. 91 Exercise #2: Visualize Your Communication Safety APPENDIX 5.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES
94. 92 Exercise #3: Design Your Ideal Communication Tool Spend the next 15-20 minutes designing your ideal secure communication tool(s). In your design please include the following: ▪ ▪ Who uses it, when, why ▪ ▪ What threat, challenge or safety concerns it is addressing ▪ ▪ Where someone can access this tool (store, online, from friend, etc...)? ▪ ▪ How people will learn about the tool? Make an Ad (print or commercial). We want as many people as possible to know about your new tool(s). Create a print or commercial ad to spread the word. We’ll come back together to share them with the larger group. Some things to keep in mind: ▪ ▪ What is the need your tool is addressing ▪ ▪ What is the “selling point” of the tool? ▪ ▪ Who would be a “spokesperson” for this tool? APPENDIX 5.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES Exercise #3: Design Your Ideal Communication Tool
95. 93 Exercise #3: Design Your Ideal Communication Tool APPENDIX 5.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES
96. 94 This appendix contains three visual exercises used throughout the research process for working with users of Internet Freedom Tools. These are text-only descriptions of the exercises that include instructions for the facilitator such as questions to ask of the participants. Example worksheets are also included in this appendix, with instructions intended for the participants themselves. Note that Appendix 5.2 has two additional exercises intended for working with developers of Internet Freedom Tools. Logistical Information Amount of Time: 20-25 min per exercise Materials: Exercise Template(s), pens, and colored thin markers Introduction In partnership with the Open Technology Fund (OTF), SecondMuse seeks to better understand the internet freedom tool development process, the context under which users employ Internet Freedom Tools (IFTs), and support greater engagement and understanding of user needs in the tool development process. We are spending time here in Iceland to get to know more developers and understand what their priorities are when creating tools so we can best serve them. Then, in March, we will be on the ground with users to better understand the context under which they employ IFTs. We will be spending time with users in Dharamsala, India. These users are members of the Tibetan community, and their adversary in the security context is the Chinese government which regularly spies on them. A little About SecondMuse SecondMuse is a firm that focuses on innovation and collaboration to solve complex challenges. Our work focuses on bringing together diverse sets of partners and perspectives to create sustainable solutions for communities, cities, industries and beyond. We work with nonprofits, foundations, all sizes of companies, as well as government agencies to leverage various stakeholders’ talents toward a unified mission/solution. For this particular project, we received funding from OTF. APPENDIX 5.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES Appendix 5.2 - TorDev Fieldwork Visual Exercises ▪ ▪ Logistical Information ▪ ▪ Introduction ▪ ▪ Exercise #1: “Visualize Your User” Exercise: ▪ ▪ Exercise #2: “Map Your Development Process” APPENDIX 5.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES
97. 95 Why this exercise will ultimately be valuable to you. We are talking to you because you represent the developer community. We would like your personal perspective on the questions below, which will help us fully understand the needs and challenges of developers working on IFTs. ▪ ▪ Lots of people want to tell you how to do your job better, we aren’t those people. Sharing your ideas visually will help us share your point of view ▪ ▪ Visualization allows us to understand in a different way - another data collection method ▪ ▪ Want to share with others - visualizations are some of the most effective ways APPENDIX 5.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES
98. 96 Exercise #1: “Visualize Your User” Exercise: In the next 5-10 mins please complete the following task: We are interested in learning more about the users of your tool. Please tell us more about your user through drawing and answering the following questions: ▪ ▪ Who is this person? □ □ What do they care about? □ □ What are their responsibilities? □ □ Where do they work, live, family structure? □ □ What access to communication technology does this user have? ▪ ▪ When do they use your tool(s)? ▪ ▪ Why do they use your tool(s)? We’ll come back together and discuss what you’ve created for 10-15 mins. We are going to cover a wide set of topics in the conversation. In some cases we’ll be asking what appears to be more basic question. We’ll do this so that, instead of making assumptions, we get your perspectives and your definitions in your own words. Thank You! These are some follow-up questions we can ask: ▪ ▪ If you could ask them anything, what would it be? ▪ ▪ What part of your development process does the user participate in? ▪ ▪ What additional parts of the development process would it be useful to have user participation? ▪ ▪ Is this your ideal user? Who’s your ideal user? What would make this your ideal user? ▪ ▪ Is there anyone else here we should have do this exercise? If the person is comfortable we can ask if they wouldn’t mind being photographed holding their User and/or partially photographed doing the exercise. Ask participant if they would be ok with us sharing/ showing. At the end we’ll put together a document of all of them. Note: If you have more than one user feel free to grab another sheet of paper to represent them. APPENDIX 5.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES
99. 97 Exercise #1: “Visualize Your User” Exercise APPENDIX 5.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES
100. 98 Exercise #2: “Map Your Development Process” In the next 5-10 mins please complete the following task: We are interested in learning more about your tool development process. How do you and/or your team set-out to design and release a tool? Please tell us more about your process through drawing/mapping it and answering the following questions: ▪ ▪ Where does the idea to create a new tool come from? ▪ ▪ What’s the “workplan” or process from start to finish? □ □ Who is involved? ▪ ▪ What does feedback look like? ▪ ▪ What happens after launch? □ □ How do you maintain and improve the tool? We’ll come back together and discuss what you’ve created for 10-15 mins. We are going to cover a wide set of topics in the conversation. In some cases we’ll be asking what appears to be more basic question. We’ll do this so that, instead of making assumptions, we get your perspectives and your definitions in your own words. Thank You! These are some follow-up questions we can ask: ▪ ▪ What role do users play in your process?/ Where do they fit? ▪ ▪ What’s something that you would like to improve in your process? ▪ ▪ Complete the following sentence: “My life would be easier if....” ▪ ▪ What makes a great developer? ▪ ▪ Is there anyone else here we should have do this exercise? If the person is comfortable we can ask if they wouldn’t mind being photographed holding their User and/or partially photographed doing the exercise. At the end we’ll put together a document of all of them. APPENDIX 5.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES
101. 99 Exercise #2: “Map Your Development Process” APPENDIX 5.2 - TORDEV (ICELAND) FIELDWORK VISUAL EXERCISES
103. 101 This is an example guide for a group convening. This guide was developed for a series of group convenings that were conducted during fieldwork in Dharamsala, India with the Tibetan Exile Community. This is a generalized guide, meaning it was not created for a specific set of people, but it was created within the context of that research effort. Logistical Information Amount of Time: 3-4 hours Total: 2-3 sessions over the course of fieldwork Materials: Activity sheets/cards, Guardian project phones/apps, capturing devices, notebooks, paper, pens/markers, 2M cards Who: ▪ ▪ Journalists ▪ ▪ Student & Human Rights Activist ▪ ▪ Lobsang and friends Why we are here? We are bringing you all together, because we want to better understand how communication tools (phone, computer, voice, paper etc) and internet security tools (secure text, chat, email and anonymous web browsing) fit into your life and your work. It is our intention to understand how you use communication technology in order to support developers of secure communication tools to create tools that enable you to communicate more easily and securely with those around you. We will spend the next 3-4 hours with you doing the following: ▪ ▪ Seeking to better understand your communication habits and patterns ▪ ▪ Discussing communication and your mission through a series of exercises ▪ ▪ Exploring a secure communication application and getting feedback APPENDIX 6.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK GROUP CONVENING Appendix 6.1 - Dharamsala Fieldwork Group Convening ▪ ▪ Logistical Information □ □ Design a Communication Tool □ □ Who uses it, when, why? □ □ What challenge or safety threat it is addressing? □ □ Where someone can access this tool (store, online, from friend, etc...)? □ □ How people will learn about the tool? APPENDIX 6.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK GROUP CONVENING
104. 102 Flow of Activities Overall Lead: Roxann Intros (30-45 min) - Roxann ▪ ▪ Warm-Up Questions Activities/Exercises (1.5 hours) - ▪ ▪ Connectivity Exercise - Katey ▪ ▪ Visualize Your Communication Safety - Katey ▪ ▪ Design Your Ideal Communication Tool - Roxann Guardian Project Testing Exercise (45 minutes) - Mike ▪ ▪ Overview of the YakReader/Tibetan News Reader - see if anyone has heard of it or has used it ▪ ▪ Opportunity to download and start to use (break participants into pairs or triads) ▪ ▪ Feedback session Closing (.5 hours) - Roxann Welcome During the welcome, balance interviewing and shadowing. On one hand, we want the participants to feel comfortable around us. Get to know them and break the ice – say hi, ask them about their families, how they know the host, and so forth. Make sure to establish rapport without disturbing the group dynamic. Introduce facilitators/interviewers & the project. Thanks for getting together with us today. We have invited you because we want to better understand how communication and internet tools (text, chat, email, social media and anonymous web browsing) fit into your life and the work that you do. It is our intention to understand how you use communication technology in your everyday life (both at work and at home) in order to support developers to create tools that enable you to communicate more easily and securely with those around you. We will spend the next 3-4 hours with you doing the following: Seeking to better understand your communication habits and patterns Discussing communication and your mission through a series of exercises Exploring a secure communication application and getting feedback When we’ve finished the activities, we can talk more and answer questions. APPENDIX 6.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK GROUP CONVENING
105. 103 ▪ ▪ Logistics/Privacy Check-In □ □ Are there any security concerns we should be aware of related to the next few hours and any conversations related to it? □ □ Are you comfortable with us recording portions of our discussions for internal note-taking purposes? □ □ Is there anything you’d like to know before we get started? ▪ ▪ Introductions □ □ Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do, and the technology invention that most changed your life. (Have everyone in the group introduce themselves) □ □ How do you all know each other? □ □ Warm-Up: Have each person share what mobile device they have and briefly how they use it. Communication & Security Activities (30 minutes each) 1. Connectivity Exercise Types of Technology Used ▪ ▪ What are the communication tools/formats you know people are using here? In Tibet? □ □ What is most popular? (text, voice, email, in-person, etc.) ▪ ▪ Are people using Twitter in exile and/or in Tibet? ▪ ▪ What is the usage model of Twitter in Tibet and in exile? ▪ ▪ Are people using proxies to browse the internet anonymously? □ □ If so, which proxies are people using? 2. Visualize Your Communication Safety Threat Models (use threat wire frame) ▪ ▪ What do you see as the threat model in Tibet? □ □ What do people want to protect themselves from? □ □ What information is sensitive to share and/or receive ▪ ▪ What is the threat model you face? □ □ What do you want to protect yourself from? □ □ What information is sensitive to share and/or receive ▪ ▪ What are the use cases for panic (wiping all of your personal info from the app, or the entire app itself in a single tap)? 3. Design Your Ideal Communication Tool APPENDIX 6.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK GROUP CONVENING
106. 104 Based on what topics come-up in the previous 2 exercises have participants design a new communication tool that would solve their needs. ▪ ▪ Design a Communication Tool Divide the participants into pairs/triads (depending how many people come) and have them design a new communication tool. They must tell us the following: □ □ Who uses it, when, why? □ □ What challenge or safety threat it is addressing? □ □ Where someone can access this tool (store, online, from friend, etc...)? □ □ How people will learn about the tool? ▪ ▪ Make an Ad (print or commercial). We want as many people to know about your new tool. Create a print or commercial ad to spread the word. We’ll come back together to share them with the larger group. Some things to keep in mind: □ □ How would you brand this tool? □ □ What existing brands are like this tool? □ □ What is the “selling point” of the tool? □ □ Who would you select to serve as a spokesperson for the tool and why? Materials: paper, pens/markers, encourage people to use their own devices Guardian Project YakReader Exploration ▪ ▪ News Discussion (10 min) □ □ How do you hear about news? □ □ What are you interested in reading about and knowing on a daily basis? □ □ What are common and/or good sources of news (including cultural, world news, technology, lifestyle, etc)? ▪ ▪ Overview of the YakReader (5 min) This will be a brief intro to the app. Let’s see if anyone has heard of it or has used it. We can also use this time as a warm-up by asking participants about the news they consume currently and how they do it. APPENDIX 6.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK GROUP CONVENING
107. 105 ▪ ▪ Download & Use Cases (30 min) Supplies: 2 android phones (Lobsang), 3 very simple/non-internet phones 2) Exploring (Intended) Use Cases (15 min) (working in pairs) We would like for you all to try YakReader in the following ways. Let everyone go through all three uses cases at the same time. ▪ ▪ Reading the news ▪ ▪ Share a story or a feed ▪ ▪ Using the panic mode/button Please Note: Watch for people’s reactions to getting news on their phone. Are there mentions of similar websites/apps providing these services? 3) Follow-Up Questions (15 min) (Depending on the size of the group you have everyone respond or only ask a few people before moving on to the next Use Case. Overall impressions: ▪ ▪ How was this experience for you? ▪ ▪ Do you see yourself using YakReader? Why or why not? Specific Features Reading News □ □ When do you see yourself using this feature & why? □ □ When do you think other people would use this feature? □ □ What did you like? □ □ What was difficult? □ □ What was intuitive / unintuitive? Sharing Stories/News/Feeds □ □ When do you see yourself using this feature & why? □ □ When do you think other people would use this feature? □ □ What did you like? APPENDIX 6.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK GROUP CONVENING
108. 106 □ □ What was difficult? □ □ What was intuitive / unintuitive? Panic Button: □ □ When do you see yourself using the panic button & why? □ □ When do you think other people would use this feature? □ □ Are you confident this will help protect you? □ □ Was it easy to use it? □ □ Is this important and useful to you? □ □ What did you like? □ □ What was difficult? □ □ What was intuitive / unintuitive? ▪ ▪ Feedback Session We’ll use this time to debrief specifics that came up and ask the following: Questions General News Perceptions ▪ ▪ How do people hear about news? ▪ ▪ How do people define news for themselves (personal feed on weibo vs. world news from the newspaper)? What are they interested in reading about and knowing on a daily basis? ▪ ▪ What are common and/or good sources of news (including cultural, world news, technology, lifestyle, etc)? ▪ ▪ What is the common mental model of receiving information from the internet? ▪ ▪ Compile a list of blogs and websites that people read for news (here and Tibet). Types of Technology Used ▪ ▪ What are the communication tools/formats you know people are using here? In Tibet? □ □ What is most popular? (text, voice, email, in-person, etc.) ▪ ▪ Are people using Twitter in exile and/or in Tibet? ▪ ▪ What is the usage model of Twitter in Tibet and in exile? ▪ ▪ Are people using proxies to browse the internet anonymously? □ □ If so, which proxies are people using? APPENDIX 6.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK GROUP CONVENING
109. 107 Threat Models (use threat wire frame) ▪ ▪ What do you see as the threat model in Tibet? □ □ What do people want to protect themselves from? □ □ What information is sensitive to share and/or receive ▪ ▪ What is the threat model you face? □ □ What do you want to protect yourself from? □ □ What information is sensitive to share and/or receive ▪ ▪ What are the use cases for panic (wiping all of your personal info from the app, or the entire app itself in a single tap)? Branding ▪ ▪ Which brands do people have a strong emotional connection to? (Include an image or link to their logo, ads and other samples of messaging) ▪ ▪ How do people describe the qualities of that brand in 3-5 words? APPENDIX 6.1 - DHARAMSALA FIELDWORK GROUP CONVENING
110. 108 SECONDMUSE / secondmuse.com OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND / opentechfund.org RADIO FREE ASIA / rfa.org This is the Internet Freedom Needfinding Framework v1.0, published on September 1st, 2014.