An Empathy-Based Approach to Understanding Employee Experiences

In the race to develop new technology and to promote remote tools for speed and efficiency, employee research and content creation platforms can sometimes forget one crucial element: the human on the other side of the screen.

When asking employees or grads to share their private thoughts on workplace culture, onboarding, or burnout, a clunky, invasive, or confusing experience isn’t just annoying – it can lead to high drop-out rates and shallow feedback.

To move beyond static surveys and capture authentic lived experiences, we have developed the G.R.E.A.T. framework. 

Here is how applying Guidance, Relationship, Ease, Activities, and Trust can transform your research and understanding of employee experiences.

1. G is for Guidance (Remove the Uncertainty)

Employees are busy. If they open a research app and don’t immediately know what is expected of them, they will close it. Unlike content creation tools designed for marketing teams, an insight-driven platform must hold the participant’s hand.

At Field Notes, we use Video & Audio tasks with prompts that remain visible while the participant records. Whether asking them to talk through their morning routine or explain a pain point in their workflow, the instructions are always on screen. We also provide a customisable Help section within the app, ensuring that participants never feel lost or “tested.” When employees feel guided, they feel confident enough to share.

2. R is for Relationship (It’s Not a Black Hole)

Traditional employee feedback surveys or content creation tools often feel extractive – data and content go in, and nothing comes back. To get deep qualitative insights and nurture deeper and more authentic connections, you should encourage 2-way conversations.

Using our in-app messaging features, it’s possible to probe for more detail, ask follow-up questions, or simply say “thank you”. This human feedback loop builds rapport, turning a passive respondent into an engaged participant who feels their voice is actually being heard.

3. E is for Ease (Respect Their Time)

If your tool buffers, crashes, or takes ages to upload, you are signaling to your employees that their time doesn’t matter.

We built Field Notes with ease of use at its core. Crucially, we utilise 10+ servers worldwide. Our app automatically selects the best upload server based on network distance, ensuring a smooth experience whether your employee is responding from a high-speed New York office or a remote site with patchy connectivity.

4. A is for Activities (Combat Fatigue)

Answering the same style of open-ended text box thirty times is a recipe for boredom. A dynamic project design can really help keep engagement high.

You might start with a selfie video introducing themselves, move to a screen recording task to show how they explore the HR portal, and finish with a Narration-180 task where they voice-over their reaction to a new internal branding idea or communication.

5. T is for Trust (The Foundation of Insight)

This is the most critical factor. In an era of AI surveillance, employees are rightfully suspicious of cameras. Unlike platforms designed to only create public-facing employee content, Field Notes dials up the insight element and it’s built around creating connections.

We operate with Privacy-first / Privacy-by-design principles and are fully GDPR compliant. It is vital to communicate to employees that their data is secure, and what their data is going to be used for. When employees trust the platform, they take off the “corporate mask” and share the honest, unvarnished feedback you need to drive real change.

Ready to listen?

Your employees have stories to tell. Don’t let bad tech or poor research design silence them.

If you are looking to switch from a legacy platform or launch your first mobile ethnography study, our Let’s Go! migration programme offers free training and support to get you set up seamlessly. Find out more here.