I’m currently working on a usability and design prototyping project for a San Francisco-based iPhone app company (that shall, for now, remain unnamed). So far it’s been fascinating, and lots of fun figuring out new ways to test the app, record the sessions, and integrate rapid design prototypes from week to week.

One of the more interesting parts of the project revolves around a diary study activity: we’re basically following half a dozen app users over a month to see how their experience with the app evolves, for better or worse. I’m currently sending out 2 mini surveys a week, and have a shared “whiteboard” google doc where they can jot down any thoughts they have on the fly.

Experience Blogging

The neatest trick to the diary study, in my opinion, is the inclusion of what I’m calling “experience” blogging: basically, I’ve encouraged the participants to send screenshots of interesting moments they encounter while using the app by using the iPhone’s built in screen capture function (“On/Off” and “Main menu” simultaneous click). I set up a dedicated photoblog on Posterous.com, and the participants basically send along their screenshots – which are automatically populated on the Posterous site.

The end result is a very neat live stream of app moments, sort of like the “pulse” of the app. It seems like the native screen capture functionality of the iPhone makes this particularly easy, though I don’t know if any other phones do the same. Has anyone else tried anything like this before?