SFnight Project
Structured Interview Protocol
[answered by e-mail. The protocol was adapted to better
be answered in this context.]
1.
Are you
x Female
Male
2.
Are you
A college student
A graduate student
x Employed full time [but not a student]
Other
3.
How old are you?
Over 46 years old
31-45 years old
x 21-30 years old
Less than 20 years old
4.
How many hours do you spend on Internet an average week
More than 20 hours/week
10-20 hours/week
Less than 5 hours/week
5.
How often do you go out to bars and clubs (during not very
busy times)?
More than 15 times/month
10-15 times/month
Less than 5 times/month
6.
Do you usually go out to the same bar/club?
No… I have a few favorites, but
I like variety, too.
7.
Do you like to explore new bars/clubs?
Not on my own… only with friends
and usually based on someone else’s recommendation first.
8.
What kind of bars/clubs do you like to go? [music, style, for dancing, etc] Are they close to your job,
home or school?
Bars: close to home or work is best so that it’s convenient, but I will meet
people other places if we arrange in advance; the most important thing is a
good happy hour atmosphere—not too “meat market” or cheezy, just relaxed and
fun with lots of conversation; music not too loud, but jukebox is fun, and pool
table a plus; some food/munchies available or nearby is best; have to have one
of my favorite beers and/or really cheap drink specials, otherwise, why bother?
Clubs: good music for dancing!!!
Food not important, but good drinks and free water (instead of charging
for bottled water) are a plus; also like some jazz clubs, but can be hard to
have fun with a whole group—those clubs are better for dinner & music
instead of dancing
9.
Do you have any specific music preference? Or bar style
preference?
Depends on my mood: music-wise, I tend to prefer jazz, big band/swing, DJ/house music, drum ‘n’ bass, latin; as for bar style, casual is better than dressed up
10. Make a list of
things that comes to your mind when you are choosing a bar or club to go. [explore aspects of the user answer. We would like to know
about their motivations, needs etc. So try to know what they are looking for
(music? What kind? A place to relax? A place to play? Depends on? Of what? What
elements are subjacent his/her decision; what they like in a bar/they don’t;
etc]
First thing: what kind of crowd is going? Want everyone to have a good time, so need to pick the right place. If big group, want big tables, maybe outside patio in case of smokers, etc. For smaller crowd, couches and coffee tables may be better. Then, consider what type of event—is it happy hour or a weekend night? Do people have to work the next day? Did people have a rough day and just want to be mellow, or are they looking to party? If people are needing to relax, want relaxed atmosphere in convenient location—don’t want to deal with meeting up halfway across town, etc.
Those factors have a big impact on the choice of everything else. Very spontaneous decision, too. Talk to friend, see what they feel like, make
suggestions, finally agree on something.
We don’t always agree either, but people tend to trade off. Being with others is more important than
exactly which place we choose.
11. With whom do
you usually go to bars
Never Sometimes Most of the Time
Alone …X……. ……….. ……….
With
friends/colleagues ………. ……….. ……X….
With
‘significant other’ ………. ……X….. ……….
With others ……….. …X…….. ………..
(I assumed that “with others” means with people who are NOT
“friends/colleagues” or “sig other”, so it would be some other set of people…)
12. How do you
usually contact yours friends/significant other when inviting them to go to a
bar/club? Do you use telephone,
e-mail, direct contact, etc.
Depends on who they are.
Co-workers are just down the hall, so walk down or use cell phone if
they are out of office. Non-work
friends maybe by email, especially if special occasion (e.g., birthday) or BIG
happy hour group invite, but usually telephone is best for making final
arrangements.
13. Or how do you
usually is invited by yours friends/significant other when to go to a bar/club?
Do they use telephone, e-mail,
direct contact, etc.
Same as above.
14. What
information do you usually exchange with your friends when choosing a bar? [for example, do they give you several options or just
invite to a specific one name of the bar, address, who is playing, direction,
price, who is going etc. Here is just some elements that you can explore in the
conversation, but let the interviewed bring the elements]
Time & place are MOST important—usually a group decision making
process though; then consider if we’ll have food (dinner) beforehand
(separately) or together when we meet up.
If location isn’t known by all, discuss music style, recommended attire,
COVER CHARGE if any.
15. Which source
do you use most when you want to know what is going on in a bar/club? How it
help you to make your decision?
Just
some examples:
Friends [by e-mail, by invitation]
Newspaper [traditional one]
Newspaper [free]
Flyers
Site online [what kind]
Bars: Mostly friends’
recommendations or past experience.
Sometimes will use website like citysearch to get phone numbers, or just
look in the free newspapers to check who’s playing, what cover charge, etc.
Clubs: use free newspapers most
of the time. Never can remember
which clubs have each type of music on different days, so need to confirm in
paper. BUT, a sometimes we pick a
particular club as the REASON to go out, like: “I’ve been wanting to go to Ruby
Skye forever, let’s go Saturday, okay?”
16. Do you use any web sites to find about nightlife entertainment? for example to find movies, restaurants, where do you find information about them? Please give names.
City search website has a horrible interface these days—sidewalk.com
was much better—but it’s really the only website I know that’s thorough enough
to have all the phone numbers etc.
yahoo-style yellow pages works okay too. But usually I get the phone number and then call myself. I don’t bother reading the editorials on
citysearch b/c usually I know enough myself or have friends who have
ideas. Citysearch can be really good
for movies & showtimes since those are pretty reliable, but I still find it
annoying. Moviefone.com is better.
Before I left SF, I started reading Sfgirl.com a little, and that has a
lot of postings about clubs & nightlife, but never got around to following
up. There was another website great for
club/bar information, but they closed down about 9 months ago and I deleted the
bookmark, so I can’t remember…
17. Have you
visited any web site of bars? Which one(s)?
Ruby Skye, Red Devil Lounge.
18. Have you
visited any DJ web site?
NO.
19. If you use any web site with entertainment information, what do you usually looking for? What kind of information you would like but you can’t find there?
Most important: location (w/ some simple directions, eg., cross
streets), hours of operation, phone number and cover charges. Calendar of events/who’s playing is
preferable but can be hard to find.
Links to each bar/club’s website also good in case it becomes a
favorite—then can go directly there next time.
20. If you use any
online system, what functions do you use most? What you don’t use?
“online system” means…? I assume yahoo/AOL/etc.?
I use for searching for web pages and yellow pages listings most. Then weather & news headlines. Sometimes sports scores. I Never use stock ticker/portfolio tracking
information.
21. Is there
anything you would like to see there that would help you to use better the
site?
More ways of searching for the information. Sidewalk.com had a great focused searching with clear layout of
information. Could search by geography,
price, style, and more. Had a drop down
box for every movie playing in the city so could go straight there. Groups of restaurants also had pull
downs. For me, since I depend on
recommendations of others, usually I just need the details on a particular
location. I don’t really spend much time
doing open ended searching…
22. When using the
site you tend to check a specific bar to know what is going on?
Yes (see above)
23. What would you
make not go to a bar if you knew in advance?
Crowd of people I don’t like, music I don’t like, or too expensive.