RR_09: Research design (2) - interview protocol

INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

Area I: Purposes and behaviors

The questions in this section will depend on the results of the surveys and the online observations, and will vary depending on the participants. However, some of the sample questions can be:

1. Your status updates seem to document your personal life. Can you comment on this? What kind of information about your personal life you would like to share with your friends on Kaixin? What information you do not like to share? How do you draw the line?
2. You do not seem to share much information about your personal life but re-post items from other sources very often. Can you comment on this? What motivate you to re-post items?
3. You have many friends on Kaixin or Renren who you do not personally know (you have not met in person). How did you become friends on Kaixin or Renren? Can you comment on that?
4. Among groups of classmates, friends, boyfriend, and family members, what group do you think you communicate most via Kaixin or Renren? Why?
5. You use a mobile device to use Kaixin or Renren a lot. What are the situations of using mobile access to Kaixin?
6. You seem to communicate with your friends a lot with private messages on Kaixin or Renren. What is the differences between using Kaixin or Renren private messaging and other messaging technologies such as email, mobile text messaging, or private messaging on other websites?

Area II: Technology adoption

1. Why did you start using Kaixin or Renren? What factors motivated you to do that?
2. How often did you use Kaixin or Renren when you first started using it? Is there an increase or decrease of use comparing now and then? Why do you think you have (not) increased or decreased your use of Kaixin?
3. What did you use Kaixin or Renren for mostly when you first started? What do you do use it most for now? Is there any change? Why?
4. Do you know how to use Kaixin or Renren better than when you first started? Do you use more features on Kaixin or Renren than when you first started? What are these features? What motivated you to use them now and/or what prevented you from using them in the beginning?

Area III: Usability problems and user's solutions

1. Do you consider Kaixin or Renren easy to use? Why or why not?
2. What about Kaixin or Renren that bother you or limit you from doing what you wish to do? How do you deal with these problems?
3. If you have a problem using Kaixin or Renren, what do you do? Why? (related to question # in the survey instrument)
4. Are you happy with the features and interface of Kaixin or Renren? Why or why not? What about it that you wish to change?
5. Are you happy with the general service Kaixin or Renren provides? Have you experienced breakdowns, errors, bugs, interruptions, loss of data, privacy violation, or other problems? Is information you need about how to use Kaixin or Renren accessible? How is your experience with technical support or customer service if any? How do these experiences affect your use of Kaixin or Renren?
6. What are other similar websites you are using? Do you use them more often than Kaixin or Renren? Why?

Area IV: Learning artifacts

1. Are there any promotional materials, user manual, online help, technical reviews, or other documents or artifacts that motivate you to Kaixin or Renren, help you learn to use it, or improve your use of it? What are they?

Area V: Characteristics unique to Kaixin and/or Renren compared to Facebook

Area VI: Personal perception

1. How important is Kaixin or Renren as part of your life? In what ways is it important or not important? How does it fit in your life? What made you think this way?
2. In what ways will your life change if you stop using Kaixin or Renren? How do you think these changes will affect your life in general?