People don't always do what we expect them to do.
In a field study I conducted with customer service representatives, I observed how they navigated their daily workflows while supporting customers. The goal was to understand how an internal system fit into their process.
What I found was not a usability issue. It was something more fundamental.
They weren't using the system at all.
Instead, they created their own ways of working-shared documents, personal notes, and team-driven workarounds that allowed them to do their jobs more efficiently than the system designed to support them.
This is the kind of insight that is difficult to uncover outside of the field. In a usability test or survey, you might learn that a system is slow or frustrating. But you may not discover that users have abandoned it entirely.
Field research provides context. It shows how real environments, time pressures, and team dynamics shape behavior. It reveals not just where design breaks down, but when it becomes irrelevant.
For UX teams, this distinction matters. Understanding what users actually do-not what we expect them to do-is what leads to meaningful design decisions.
Email: theresaw@columbus.rr.com
LinkedIn: theresa-wilkinson