Your research team should hire on-ground Research Coordinators
Getting to Tacipi from Jakarta takes about a day, if you’re lucky with the traffic. First, there’s a 2.5-hour flight to Makassar and then another 3.5-hour drive through the beautiful South Sulawesi countryside. This still isn’t enough time to adjust from the high-paced hustle of Jakarta to the slower normality of life here.
Upon arrival, we quickly realise that “good data coverage” is a bit of a gamble, depending on, for instance, which side of the hill you stand on. Our big, white Toyota looks pretty out of place among the pointy-roofed houses on stilts around us.
Idul, our local on-ground Research Coordinator, leads us to Pak Abdul’s home — he’s a corn farmer here. We’re greeted with smiles and are welcomed. Today, we aim to see if farmers like Pak Abdul would consider selling their corn directly to feed mills for better prices. However, we soon learn that trust and longstanding friendships often trump the promise of a few extra bucks when it comes to selling their harvest.
The Research Coordinator's role
Transitioning from remote connections over video calls to tangible relationships in rural Indonesia has been pivotal for our Design Research work. Idul (the first Research Coordinator on the team), serves as a bridge between our design team’s intentions and the farmers’ everyday realities. Fluent in both their literal and cultural language, his presence not only builds trust but also provides nuanced insights often lost in remote calls.
“To get closer to our users, I needed to be part of the community. Maintaining a good relationship with the ground operations team helps me in terms of reaching out to our farmers and trading partners. They would at times drive me or give me directions to go there to the farmer’s houses because Google Maps isn’t very reliable very reliable. We take all our pieces of equipment, like wifi, laptops, and mobile phones — this removes the technology barrier for the users to set up to connect with the researchers in Jakarta. Our presence also makes them feel comfortable sharing information with the team.”
— Wahyu Idul Fitrah,
Research Coordinator, Makassar (Indonesia)
Bringing the right tools for the job
In addition, having someone on the ground allows the team to ensure that when we do have to conduct remote interviews, we can get to our users with the right equipment to ensure good-quality communication. On-ground team members became a necessity when our initial remote efforts failed due to unreliable internet, and the users' limited tech expertise, and we struggled to get anything more than very generic insights.
Growing the team
We started with Idul, but the team soon expanded to include two more coordinators. These three have become the backbone of our fieldwork, effectively bridging the gap between our design team and rural farming communities.
Their insights, drawn from daily interactions with the farmers, enrich our understanding and shape our approaches.
“When it comes to building and maintaining trust, it takes feeling and intuition to do so. Since there is no textbook to decode this, Small talk and chitchats are vital. I usually ask them general things to know, e.g., corn prices, current weather, or UFC matches. All these in-person conversations are a way to engage with our users and remove hesitation and awkwardness. This helps us unlock genuine, open, and honest conversations in a short period of time. It becomes easier when we talk to them in their dialect, as it varies across Indonesia.”
— Aldi Dio Afrada,
Research Coordinator (East Java, Indonesia)
A more local Design Research team
Our experiences across rural Indonesia teach a crucial lesson: real understanding comes from not just being on the ground but being part of the community as well. This isn’t just about geography; it’s about embedding within communities, building trust, and learning from those we serve. Our journey underscores the importance of integrating voices from these communities into our teams, making our designs not only innovative but also deeply relevant.
For design research teams looking to make a lasting impact, we encourage prioritising direct engagement over distant observation. By doing so, your work will not only meet the needs of your customers but also respect and reflect their lived realities. Commit to research that fosters genuine relationships and leads to more meaningful innovations.
