My colleague keeps ignoring the data collection method I built. Am I being precious about it or is this a real problem?
So I'm leading a field study, observing people use a self-service machine in busy transit settings. I built a structured way to collect the data, split by role, and even made a little tutorial for the team to watch before we went out.
Two issues in the field:
One teammate kept not following the format. I reminded her a couple times, she kept doing her own thing. When I finally asked her directly, turns out people are rushing and she's trying to grab something rather than lose them entirely. Honestly… fair point? Felt like an idiot for being annoyed.
Other teammate keeps restructuring our moderated sessions on the fly, including one whose guide was locked weeks ago. Order of questions matters, that's the whole point of prepping it. He does this in interviews too.
Coming from past jobs with clear lanes and people trusting each other's roles, this feels off. But I also don't want to be The Methodology Cop who can't let anyone breathe.
Do they not get how my role supports the project, or do they just not rate research? And how do I raise it without sounding territorial?
TL;DR: built a research method, team keeps improvising, one had a legit reason and one didn't, and now I'm questioning whether I'm rigorous or just rigid.
Posted May 28, 2026, 5:07 PM UTC