Diary Study Plan

Use this when you need to understand behavior, experiences, or routines over time -- not just at a single moment. Diary studies capture what happens in context, across days or weeks, when a researcher isn't watching. Produces a complete study plan: objectives, prompt design, check-in cadence, participant guidance, and analysis approach. Best for understanding habits, pain points in workflows, emotional journeys, or adoption patterns that unfold over time.

Related skills: Use /research-prioritize to decide whether a diary study is the right method. Feeds into /research-synthesize for cross-participant analysis and /research-readout for stakeholder presentation. For one-time evaluative testing, use /usability-test-plan instead. References method selection in practices/user-centered-design/research-ops-method-chooser.md.

Process

Step 1: Gather inputs

Ask the user to provide:

1. Research questions -- what do you need to understand over time? (e.g., "How do users integrate the product into their daily workflow?" or "What triggers users to abandon a habit-forming feature?")
2. Behavior window -- what timeframe captures the behavior? (One-time events need days, habit formation needs weeks, seasonal patterns need months.)
3. Target participants -- who should participate? Role, segment, experience level, relationship to the product or behavior being studied.
4. Decisions this informs -- what will change based on what you learn? (If nothing, don't run a diary study.)
5. Constraints -- budget, participant incentives, tools available (dscout, Indeemo, Google Forms, Slack channel, dedicated app), team capacity for ongoing engagement.
6. Prior research -- what do you already know? (Diary studies work best when you've done enough qualitative work to know what to look for.)

Step 2: Define study structure

## Diary Study Plan -- (Topic, date)

### Objectives
1. (Primary objective -- the most important behavior or experience to understand over time)
2. (Secondary objective)
3. (Tertiary objective -- nice-to-have)

### Study parameters

| Parameter | Detail |
|---|---|
| Duration | (3-14 days typical. Habits: 2-4 weeks. Seasonal: 4-8 weeks.) |
| Participants | (8-15 typical. More than interviews because some will drop off.) |
| Entry frequency | (1-3 entries per day, or event-triggered) |
| Entry effort | (Target 2-5 minutes per entry. Maximum 10 minutes.) |
| Incentive | (Per-entry micro-incentive + completion bonus. e.g., $5/entry + $50 completion.) |
| Tool | (dscout, Indeemo, Google Forms, WhatsApp/Slack, custom app) |

Step 3: Design diary prompts

Write prompts for participants to respond to at each entry point. Prompts should be:

• Short and specific (participants are logging in the moment, not writing essays)
• Grounded in observable behavior ("What just happened?") not abstract reflection ("How do you feel about productivity?")
• A mix of structured (quick to answer) and open-ended (rich but optional)

### Diary prompts

**Trigger:** (When should participants make an entry? Time-based: "Every evening before bed." Event-based: "Each time you use [feature/product]." Or both.)

**Required fields (every entry):**

1. **What happened?** (Free text, 1-2 sentences describing the moment or activity)
2. **When?** (Timestamp -- auto-captured or self-reported)
3. **Where were you?** (Context: at desk, on phone, commuting, in a meeting)
4. **How did it go?** (Scale: 1 = Frustrating ... 5 = Smooth)
5. **Photo/screenshot** (Optional but encouraged -- "Show us what you see right now")

**Rotating prompts (vary across days to reduce fatigue):**

- Day 1-2: "(Onboarding prompt -- e.g., 'Walk us through what you did today related to [topic]')"
- Day 3-5: "(Deepening prompt -- e.g., 'What workaround did you use today?' or 'What almost stopped you?')"
- Day 6+: "(Reflection prompt -- e.g., 'Has anything changed in how you approach [task]?' or 'What would you tell a new user?')"

**Weekly reflection (if study > 7 days):**
- "Looking back at this week, what stands out?"
- "What patterns are you noticing in your own behavior?"

Prompt design rules:

• Front-load easy prompts. Build participant confidence before asking for deeper reflection.
• Alternate prompt types to prevent fatigue. Don't ask the same thing every day.
• Include at least one photo/screenshot prompt -- visual data is often more revealing than text.
• Keep required fields to 5 or fewer. Make rich prompts optional.
• Write prompts in second person, present tense: "What are you doing right now?" not "Describe your experience."

Step 4: Plan check-in cadence

### Researcher check-in schedule

| Timing | Action | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | Onboarding call (15-20 min) | Walk through tool, set expectations, answer questions |
| Day 1 | Review first entries | Catch misunderstandings early. Send encouragement. |
| Day 2-3 | Individual check-in (message) | "Great entries so far! Quick question about [specific entry]..." |
| Mid-study | Mid-point review | Assess entry quality, adjust prompts if needed, re-engage dropouts |
| Day N-1 | Closing reminder | "Last day tomorrow -- thanks for sticking with it!" |
| Day N+1 | Exit interview (30 min) | Deep dive into patterns. Ask about entries that surprised you. |

### Dropout mitigation
- **Day 1 silence:** Send personal message within 24 hours. Offer tech support.
- **2+ missed entries:** Send encouragement, not guilt. "No pressure -- even a quick note helps."
- **Day 3+ silence:** Direct outreach. Offer to simplify entries or switch to voice memos.
- **Recruit 20-30% over target** to account for expected attrition.

Step 5: Plan analysis approach

### Analysis framework

**Phase 1: Entry-level coding**
For each diary entry, code:
- Activity type (what they were doing)
- Context (where, when, with whom)
- Sentiment (positive, negative, neutral, mixed)
- Pain points (friction, confusion, workarounds)
- Bright spots (delight, efficiency, satisfaction)

**Phase 2: Participant journeys**
For each participant, map their entries chronologically:
- How did behavior change over the study period?
- What patterns emerged? (Daily routines, weekly cycles, one-time events)
- What triggered changes in behavior or sentiment?

**Phase 3: Cross-participant themes**
Across all participants:
- What behaviors are universal vs. segment-specific?
- What pain points appear repeatedly?
- What workarounds do multiple participants invent independently?
- Where do participant journeys diverge, and why?

**Phase 4: Reporting**
- Use `/research-synthesize` for cross-participant synthesis
- Use `/research-readout` for stakeholder presentation
- Include representative quotes, photos, and journey visualizations

Step 6: Logistics and participant guide

### Participant guide (share with participants)

**What we're asking:**
- (1-2 sentences explaining the study purpose in plain language)
- (Duration and expected time commitment per day)

**How to log entries:**
- (Tool-specific instructions -- where to go, what to tap/click)
- (Screenshot or walkthrough if helpful)

**Tips for great entries:**
- Log in the moment, not from memory later
- Short is fine -- a sentence and a photo beats a paragraph from memory
- There are no wrong answers. We want to see your real experience, not what you think we want to hear.
- If nothing happened today related to [topic], that's useful data too -- tell us.

**Questions or tech issues?**
- Contact: (Researcher name, email, phone/Slack)
- Response time: Within 4 hours during business hours

**Incentive details:**
- (Payment schedule, method, and any completion bonus)

Step 7: Review and validate

Ask the user:

• Is the study duration long enough to capture the behavior you care about? (Too short misses patterns. Too long causes dropout.)
• Are the prompts answerable in 2-5 minutes? (Time yourself.)
• Is the trigger clear? Will participants know when to log an entry?
• Do you have capacity for daily check-ins during the study? (Diary studies require active researcher engagement.)
• Is the incentive appropriate for the effort? (Under-incentivized studies have high dropout.)
• What will you do with the data? (If you can't articulate the analysis plan, simplify the prompts.)

Diary study design rules

• Diary studies measure behavior in context, over time. If you only need a snapshot, use interviews or usability testing instead.
• Entry fatigue is the enemy. Keep required prompts short. Rotate optional prompts. Thank participants frequently.
• The exit interview is where the magic happens. The diary entries are raw material. The exit interview is where you explore patterns with the participant and validate your interpretation.
• Recruit heavy, expect attrition. Plan for 20-30% dropout. A study that needs 10 completions should recruit 13-15.
• Photos and screenshots are underrated. They capture context that words miss. Make media prompts easy and optional.
• Don't run a diary study when you should run interviews. If you already know what happens and just need to understand why, interviews are faster and cheaper.

Output location

Present the study plan as formatted text in the conversation. The user adapts it to their research documentation and tool of choice.