My friend Jan Chipchase is an authority on qualitative product research. He embeds himself in the field with a team of colleagues and fixers, capturing the context and ecosystems in which people live. He’s the type of researcher I want to be when I grow up—traveling to the far corners of the earth to uncover hidden truths and potential opportunities.

Jan’s taken his experiences and created the Field Study Handbook. It was a career highlight to work with Jan as a technical reviewer on a few chapters of the handbook, and I’m excited for the book’s release in June, 2017.

As we get closer to the book’s launch, I contributed a short piece about what you learn about a product research team in the field.

The field, though, is opportunity. Exiting the office and entering the field introduces novelty, variety, and a chance for adaptation.

Check out The Field Test on Medium.