facebook events: Generative research

context

This study was part of a year and a half of dedicatd research I led for the Facebook Events team. During this time, I was the primary researcher at AnswerLab for the Facebook Events team. I led multiple long generative research projects, like this one, along with the many usability studies. I worked collaboratively with design and product, providing recommendations and feedback throughout the iteration process. Beyond Events, I led research for the entire Community team (e.g., Groups, Local, Pages, etc) and presented cumulative findings at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park.

problem

The team wanted to better understand why and how users seek out events and social activities. This includes small informal interactions (e.g. dinner, drinks, a walk) and large formal interactions (e.g., party, convention, workshop, sports game).

goals

  • Understand what drives users to seek out events and social activities.

  • Understand how users discover events and social activities (e.g. through friends, apps, flyers).

  • Create a hierarchical system that encompasses user motivations in relation to events and social activities.


Events_Discovery.jpg

Example of Facebook Events interface

method

  1. Diary Study: 40-60 participants share information about their social activities and related interactions for 1 week.

  2. In-Depth Interviews: A key group of exemplary participants share about what drives them to seek out events and social activities and how they seek them out. These interviews included driving down beyond surface answers to pinpoints

outcome

I created a complex hierarchical system with several major categories describing primary social drives. Each category expanded into multiple sub-categories describing detailed personal motivations for taking part in events and social activities. This system allowed teams to address specific user motivations when improving product and creating new product offerings.

Hierarchy of Needs.png

Example of core human motivating factors that may apply to events and social activities. This example does not represent the specifiic findings from this study, which are proprietary.

Note: Project description is initentionially truncated to maintain client privacy.