Portuguese

English is not spoken as widely in Brazil as you might think and locals often appreciate it when you put the effort into learning a few common phrases. That goes for people at restaurants and shops, and the participants you interview. Each time we entered a participant’s home we greeted them by saying “Obrigada por me receber em sua casa,” which means “Thank you for having me in your home.”

Working late

You may end up working late into the night on research days. The workday in Brazil typically ends around 19:00, so catching the after-work participants may mean you don’t get to your hotel until 22:00 or later.

Technology

Social networking is a big deal in Brazil. The Wall Street Journal reported⁹ that in September 2012, Brazilians spent 208% more time on Facebook than they did one year earlier. This “sharing culture” translates to in-person interactions as well. You can expect to hear participants explain that they rarely make decisions about what house to buy or even what T-shirt to buy without consulting with family, friends, and their contacts on social media.

Lastly, don’t expect to see a lot of new devices. Tariffs on imported technology are extremely high (an iPhone costs three or four times what it does in the U.S.), so many Brazilians use mid-to-low end Windows and Android devices. Similarly, don’t assume your participants will use the same digital tools for tasks like email, shopping, or information gathering. My colleague conducted in-home research in multiple countries and discovered that in Shanghai, China, where online help content was minimal, participants relied on other sources such as print articles; whereas in Barcelona, Spain, the help content was very robust and relied upon heavily.

Conclusion

The findings from our research informed a redesign of Zap’s web experience. As a UX consultancy, sometimes it takes years to see the impact of our work out in the wild, which is why, one year after we finished the project, it was especially rewarding to hear our client say “the main KPI for this project, which is leads per visits, has improved 35% since we launched the new design.”

The site’s success would have been impossible if we had simply been given research data collected by a third party. We needed to be there to see how bad traffic was, to see the look on someone’s face when he told us how frustrating it was to find a new home, and to see the client’s reaction to participants’ comments. There is tremendous value in immersing yourself in research abroad. I hope the lessons I learned will help you prepare to take the leap.

In summary, if you’re new to in-home user research in Brazil, keep the following in mind:

•Start the planning and visa application process early

•Partner with a great local firm

•Hire a real-time translator

•Limit the number of observers to four, but make sure your client observes a few sessions

•Over-recruit in anticipation of no-shows

•Plan more time than you think you need between sessions

•Keep an open mind during your research for unexpected learnings

•Learn about Brazilian customs and culture before you go