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Subject:re: Don't do it!!! From:"Dick Margulis " <margulis -at- mail -dot- fiam -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 13 Aug 2002 12:38:49 -0400
Sean Hower <hokumhome -at- freehomepage -dot- com> wrote:
>
>
>It's hard convincing the higher-ups of the merit of site visits though. It seems like they only see it as an immediate loss. Can anyone offer tips on "justifying" the expense of a site visit, contextual inquiry, and user observations, preferably in upper-management speak? :-)
>
Sean,
Try approaching your marketing honcho (manager/director/VP/whatever) with the need. Marketing types are often able to justify all sorts of strange expenses, and they also are often the best conduit for obtaining permission to pester customers.
You may get partial success, in the form of an offer to send one or more marketing people to the customer site while you toil in your cube. If that happens, ensure that you design the survey instrument yourself and that you train the marketers in obtaining the kind of information you need to do your job better. At least this is _some_ kind of site visit information, even if it isn't as good as being there yourself.
However, if you are deemed sufficiently presentable to be seen by customers, you might succeed in getting yourself sent on a decent junket.
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