Week 6 User Research - interviews

User Interviews

A) Rick - Young cook who uses recipes off the web

Q. Which websites do you usually use for your recipes?

I usually use SBS, other than that I use any website that Google recommends for the particular recipe I want to make.

Q. Have you ever tried to improve a recipe by giving it your own spin?

Yeah of course.

Q. Would you consider uploading your effort onto the web (maybe in the form of a picture or a video for other people to use?

I would but I would have to make the dish twice for that. Once to get it right and the second time I’d try and look professional while filming it.

Q. Would you see videos/attempts of other people who have made the same dish with the same recipe?

Yes, I would see the videos to make sure I’m getting the ingredients in the right order. I also feel that it would be a good way to get the right idea about cooking, especially if I don’t understand it. It makes sense to watch something before trying it out yourself.

Further comments:

Whilst taking the interview, Rick also mentioned that he hardly ever follows the recipe completely off the web since he almost never has all the ingredients. On suggesting whether it would be useful if the recipe had the names and locations of the nearest food stores around him with the ingredients he needed, he said it wouldn’t really matter to him because he usually makes a dish with the ingredients he has around the house.

B) Laura Grogan – Teacher in her first year of teaching

Q. What kind of DIY do you usually do? Why do you enjoy doing it?

Because of school I am creating on a regular basis. We have art class once a week and I always like to make it exciting for the kids.

I enjoy doing it to make the classroom more exciting! However, I also like doing it for my home and myself. I am constantly creating something (this includes baking).

I guess you could say that I am a crafter/baker/creator?

Q. What websites do you use to find projects and inspiration?

I use Pinterest, a lot! Pinterest might not have the content that I need but it will direct me to the website or blog that does. I also use a collection of teaching blogs that I know will have a project that they have recently tried. However, the things I find on those blogs I collect onto a Pinterest board anyway.

Q. What elements of Pinterest do you enjoy?

I love that I have somewhere to store everything I see and it is very simple for me to use. I enjoy friends and co-workers being able to see my pins in case they are stuck for inspiration as well.

Q. Do you share your completed projects online?

I actually do! I regularly blog about my experiences and I am part of a teaching community online. There is a small group of us out there who are looking for new and engaging ways to teach without becoming too left centre.

I must admit that if something fails I am more reluctant to share (if I do at all haha).

Q. What blogging platform do you use? What do you include in an average post?

I use blogger, it is simple and easy to use. One of the other teachers actually set it up for me.

In every post I use a whole lot of pictures. I am at school from 7.30am until 5pm some days and as such I am time poor. I have no patience for writing long paragraphs of text (I do enough marking and report writing). I think pictures in most cases are self-explanatory. I do accompany my posts with a short set of instructions/materials list.

Q. Do you share your work publicly?

If you mean facebook, then no. I think I would lose a lot of friends if I clogged their feed with my posts. I share my posts on pinterest and that is about as far as I go. Oh, I might share a post if I think it is really relevant to a wide range of people. I rely on hash-tagging and other things for people to find my posts.

C) Sissi Zhou(China) – UQ MIDes students

Q. What kind of DIY stuff do you usually do? Why you enjoy doing it?

I like to cook dessert myself, because sweetness bring good mood to my friends and myself.

Q. Do you go to any website to find tips about how to do the stuff you want to DIY?

Yes.  I usually browse a Chinese website called “Taste the World”, it provides you a lot of recipes and classified nicely with different ingredients and cuisines. Different users can upload their recipe about same dish, so you have your choice to use whichever recipe you like. It also allows you to comment and rate the recipes, and there is a top chart for the recipes.

Q. Have you ever shared your DIY experience and works in an online community?

Not really, because I don’t cook very well and I don’t feel like spending the time to do it.

Q. Do you think it is easier to share your work in your own blog and link it to the community?

Not really, because I am so used to upload to a community and link it to our own blog, like what we do on Youtube.

D) Annie Wang(China) – UQ Business school student

Q. What kind of DIY stuff do you usually do? Why you enjoy doing it?

I enjoy doing some simple stuff I can use in my daily life, like paper boxes to collect food waste while dining. By doing this, I can reuse newspapers; it is economic and environmental friendly.

Q. Do you go to any website to find tips about how to do the stuff you want to DIY?

Not really, because I don’t make very complicated stuff, how I usually DIY are taught by my mom and friends.

Q. Would you like to spend sometime on it if there is a website which show you how to DIY those little stuff.

Yes, for sure. I‘d love to learn how to make some interesting stuff

Q. Would you like to share your DIY experience and works in an online community?

If I can make something looks great then I will.

Q. Do you think it is easier to share your work in your own blog and link it to the community?

Yes, if it support all my social networks, so I can always open my Facebook or blog, upload something and share to the community.

Conclusion

The two interview above indicates that people would love to find some ideas about DIY on the Internet. Both of the interviewee seemed not very keen in share their own work, it may because they are not that interested in DIY and their cultural background. I believe whether or not to get them upload their work to their own blog or other social network and link it to the community depends on if we can make it very easy to do and support a lot of social networks.