Unobtrusive Observation of Cycling Tourists in the Wild

The observation of cycling tourists is a real challenge. Traditional in-situ observation techniques fail as they threaten the intimateness of the experience and often interfere with the users' tasks. In post-hoc studies, like interviews, participants are unable to recap all details of their earlier experience accurately. This paper investigates how a hybrid, i.e., in-situ and post-hoc, observation approach can overcome the individual limitations and thereby provide detailed insights without disturbing the cyclists. The authors demonstrate the approach in a field study, where we observed 11 tourists with three unobtrusive in-situ techniques and used the gathered data to jog their memories in a post-hoc interview. They found that the observation technique allows to get detailed and accurate insights, and the communication between experimenter and participant becomes clearer. The authors conclude that hybrid observation would be valuable in other mobile field study settings.