Gardener interviews/Questions 2

Demographics
Age:


 * under 18
 * 18-29
 * 30-55
 * 55+

Where do you live? (general area OK)

Your garden
Tell me about your garden?


 * size
 * layout
 * types of plants
 * container garden? permaculture? raised beds?
 * etc

How long have you been growing food?

Why do you grow your own food? What do you like best about it?

Do you garden with anyone else/does anyone help you with the garden?

Growstuff use
So, you've signed up for Growstuff. I'm going to ask you about various parts of the site and whether you've used them. You can just answer yes/no, or give more detail about how you've used something, if you like.


 * edited your profile
 * listed your location
 * planted something
 * added a photo
 * added another garden or edited your default garden
 * checked out the crop database
 * checked out other members
 * searched for members near you
 * looked at another member's profile
 * sent a private message to a member
 * read people's posts
 * read the forums
 * posted something
 * ... on the forums?
 * commented on a post?
 * bought a paid account
 * read the support/FAQ page
 * subscribed to an RSS feed for recent posts, recent plantings, etc.
 * used or looked at the JSON API
 * checked out the wiki

I'm going to describe four types of activity or ways of using Growstuff, then ask you how much each one describes you, and how you'd like to use Growstuff.

Tracking: keeping a garden journal, noting down what you planted and when, for your own reference.

Sharing: writing or posting information publicly, to share it with friends or others, and to make connections with people who might have similar experiences or interests.

Learning: researching things to grow, reading tips or how-tos, asking for help and getting advice.

Trading: buying or selling or swapping produce, seeds, skills, etc, either with people who live in your immediate area, or further away by mail.

Which of these do you like best, or describes you best?

Which describes you least?

If Growstuff were to focus energy on one of these areas over the next 6 months, in terms of developing new features etc, which would you choose?

Specific features
I'm going to list some potential new features for Growstuff, and I'm interested in your thoughts on each one. I'll ask you to rate each one based on how strongly you would like it to be implemented, as follows:


 * Strongly agree = 5
 * Agree = 4
 * Don't care = 3
 * Disagree = 2
 * Strongly disagree = 1

You can also expand on each one and tell me if you have any related ideas or thoughts.

Tracking

 * Expand the range of crops in the system
 * Plant "other" crops that aren't currently in the database
 * Ability to mark a planting as finished (eg. dead, all harvested, etc.)
 * Say where you got a plant/seeds from (eg. nursery, from a friend)
 * Add more fields to the planting form (which?)
 * Ability to mark a garden as inactive (eg. moved house)
 * Track harvests of produce (eg. 3lb tomatoes)
 * Say what you did with produce (eg. made jam)
 * Ability to transplant from one garden to another
 * Wishlist for things you'd like to plant in future
 * To-do list for future planting/maintenance (eg. feeding, pruning)
 * Track what seeds you have
 * Track other materials/equipment/resources

Sharing

 * Post your updates to Twitter/Facebook/other social media (which?)
 * Make it easier to find members near you (geographically)
 * Make it easier to find friends (in a non-creepy way)
 * Find members who grow things similar to you (regardless of location)
 * Follow other members
 * "Newsfeed" of activity from people you're following
 * Have recent activity emailed to you
 * Ability to comment in more places (eg. on people's plantings or photos)
 * More forums/different topics
 * Threaded comments on posts
 * Ability to track forums or posts, and get email notifications

Learning

 * Add more information to the crop page (what?)
 * sun/shade and water needs - 5
 * propagation methods - 5
 * where to buy seeds - 4
 * companion plants - 5
 * pests and diseases - 5
 * where it's being grown geographically - 4
 * comments/discussions directly on crops - 4
 * Allow posts/comments to link to crops, and show that discussion on the crop page
 * Map of where a crop is being grown
 * More information about what people near you are growing

Trading

 * Offer seeds to sell/swap
 * Offer produce to sell/swap
 * Offer equipment/resources to share/swap/etc (eg. manure, woodchipper)

Other

 * Improved site design/visual appeal
 * Better international/multilingual support, eg. international names for crops
 * Better mobile support (phone/tablet)
 * API (Application Programming Interface)

Now I'm going to remind you of some of the things you said you really wanted. Of these, which are the three you want *most*?

Of those three, which single one do you want most?

Communications
Now I'm going to ask you about how Growstuff communicates with our members.

Do you follow us on Twitter?

Are you subscribed to our email newsletter?

Do you read our blog?

Do you read any RSS feeds from the Growstuff website itself?

How often, on average, do you currently hear something from or about Growstuff? Daily, weekly, monthly, less often?

Would you like to hear from us more, less, or about the same?

How would you most like to hear from us? Email, blog/RSS, Twitter, Facebook, other social media?

What information do you want from us? I'll give some examples and you can say agree/disagree like before.


 * Information about new features/updates to the site
 * Updates on site activity: forum posts, who's planting what, etc
 * Updates just from friends/people you follow
 * Suggestions for things to grow based on your location
 * How to get more involved in Growstuff, volunteer opportunities, etc
 * Related events/activities/resources from beyond Growstuff
 * Anything else?