Seismonaut has a broad range of clients from different organisations, sectors and industries. This makes my job very exciting because I get to be in contact with and experience so many different areas. An area I recently gained insight in to is amateur football. (and let me add: I have never had much passion for football.)

Being a Dane, where football is the national sport, I know I ought to, but I just never really understood all the fuss about the game where people run around chasing a tiny ball on a huge green field. Nevertheless I was intrigued and excited when Seismonaut got involved in a project related to a community about football where I, as part of the research, should map the experience of playing football in one particular club.

Now, I know nothing about football, and therefore it was almost as interesting as travelling to another country to research this area. And just as unfamiliar. Equipped with a Flip cam and a digital camera, my colleague and I went out to get some real life insight.

As we followed the training, the coach’s tactical speech, the mental preparation and the pep talk it actually started to get really interesting. On the day of the match we had the privilege of standing right next to the football field in the middle of the shoutings and hand clapping from co-players and the coaches: “Kom så. Kom igen.” At one point the ball suddenly landed very close by and it was so fascinating to experience the energy and the intense sound of a foot kicking the ball.

The score ended 1-1. The team was not entirely satisfied, however I was. I had for the first time experienced a football match at close hand and finally understood what the fuss is about.

At the same time I went back to the office with some really useful insights. The whole experience also proved that one does not necessarily have to be an expert on an area to do user research. What is key is rather to know that you do not know much and thereby use your ignorance constructively when meeting the world.