Study Design: Change.org and Mobile UX

Change.org's objective was to use dscout to discover opportunities to interact with users in their daily lives and to understand how access to a mobile app affects the user experience.

A one-person Change.org research team completed this qualitative research project with 50 users in 3 weeks, including designing and fielding a screener plus 7 missions, with two pilot tests.

A selection of Android users from the first project (discovery) were invited to the second project (app feedback).

SCREENER: Improving the World Around You

Objective
Recruit 50 Change.org users with varying levels of civic engagement, and diverse demographic and locations.

Timeline
Received 150 applications in 5 days

Teaser and screener questions for potential participants

Sample scout entry

PROJECT ONE: Discovery

In this project, Change.org's objective was to discover when and how often people are confronted with situations they want to change in their daily lives.

Mission 1: Identifying Changes You Want

Objective
To gather data on when and how often people are confronted with situations they want to change in their daily lives.

Instructions and questionnaire

Sample scout entry

Mission 2: Value-Based Decisions

Objective
To gather data on what types of decisions people make that are value-based.

Instructions and questionnaire

PROJECT TWO: App Feedback

Change.org's objective for this project was to beta test the Android app prior to public launch.

MISSION 1: First Impressions

Objective
To understand the first-time user experience with the Change.org Android app.

Instructions and questionnaire

Sample scout entry

Mission 2: Highs and Lows

Objective
To gather the high moments that bring the user joy and low moments that frustrate the user when using it over time.

Instructions and questionnaire

Mission 3: Reflection

Objective
To understand the user's final thoughts on the Change.org Android app after ten days of access.

Instructions and questionnaire

The results of this case study were highly valuable to the resource-challenged research team at Change.org. To learn more, read our interview with principal researcher Aruna Balakrishnan.