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What is Contextual Inquiry Contextual Inquiry is the crux of Contextual Design. It is used to reveal what people actually do and why they do it that way. Contextual Inquiry happens at the very beginning of the design process and calls for one-on-one field interviews observing subjects in their natural working or living environment doing what they would normally be doing, for example using a software application, or, more specifically, interacting with its user interface. The focus here for the one conducting the observations is to be the student to the subject's master. The observer is learning from watching the actions of the user in order to understand why something is done, or not. The observer should keep interferences during observation at a minimum. Following observation is an interview with the subject, including the subject’s assessment of the application’s user interface design as relating to the activities of the user. All this activity is a way of collecting information that will go into producing more relevant and usable user interface designs. Considerations when planning Contextual Inquiry Contextual Inquiry is usually much easier to conduct than traditional interviews because it's all about bringing the proverbial mountain to the interviewee. Traditional interviews often fall prey to scheduling conflicts and logistical considerations. In contextual inquiry the subjects are in their normal work environment and they are free to go about their business as they please and are thus not “having their time stolen”. But as such it is pertinent to prep subjects beforehand. They need to be briefed about the purpose and manner of the 'interview' and told that barring a minimum of interruptions in order to elicit clarification an interviewer is much like a video camera or a fly on the wall.
As for the interviewer, it is crucial to have a focus when conducting contextual inquiry. A focus is like a hypothesis, whereby one has an assumption or belief regarding what an end user is trying to achieve with the product and how he wants to accomplish it. An example of this (compare UsabilityNet) might be: We're designing a user interface for a system (website, mobile app or other software application) to handle customer inquiries. It is a straight-forward process. It should manage 100 customer inquiries a day. Focus Groups and User Surveys are ways of building a focus. A focus is almost never entirely true. Just like with hypotheses, it is an approximation, and some of the best contextual inquiries result when a focus is severely challenged. Considerations when running the contextual inquiry interview At the beginning the interviewer and interviewee meet to establish trust. Here the interviewer lets the interviewee know the intentions of the contextual inquiry, namely, that she wants to learn from the subject by watching and occasionally interrupting. During this phase the interviewer tries to get an overview of the subject's work to have an idea of what to expect during the observation and also to help with a focus if necessary. This stage can also be recorded for future reference. When recording, the interviewer should make sure to get the interviewee’s consent first. If circumstances do not allow for recording then it may be beneficial to come along with a partner interviewer to take notes. After laying the ground rules during the initial phase a switch occurs. This is where the interviewer(s) takes a back seat and begins tailing the interviewee, taking down notes and perhaps even recording his actions. The interviewer should keep in mind her focus and when asking questions probe them depending on the focus. At the end of the observation the interviewer should conduct a post-observation interview to ask any more questions she might have. After this phase the interviewer should summarize and discuss with the interviewee what she learnt during the interviews. The interviewer should also be attentive to the subject’s reactions to a summary. This is because they might not be as forthcoming should they think the interviewer’s conclusion is off the mark. Contextual inquiry, if done right and in conjunction with a contextual design approach, can yield a lot of insights that can go into the crafting of winning user interface design. About the Author Pidoco.com – Interface Design, Wireframing Software, Wireframing Tool, Interface Design Software, Interface Prototyping, Usability Testing, Clickable Wireframes and Digital Paper. User centered design for improved user interface design or UI Design.
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