“Unfortunately, your users aren’t going to tell you what they need, they’re going to tell you what they want. There is a huge difference.”
Contextual inquiry or contextual design, is a user research methodology that involves a user interview and one-on-one sessions of user observation. Observing a user doing their regular activities is an excellent way of gathering qualitative data about a user.
Traditionally, customers tell designers what they want, the designers relay those needs to the developers, and a team builds a system based on the client’s desire. The problem with this approach is that direction comes from individuals who have a stake in the success of the project. Often times, neither party has to use the system. This top-down approach is simply bad design. The best approach is to design from the bottom up—doing user research and gathering requirements based on the users is the best way to design quality products.
Contextual inquiry is an excellent way to collect different perspectives from users to incorporate into your design. This is generally done prior to the cognitive walkthrough and observation phase. Sometimes, we start with a traditional user interview and lead into a teacher-student role-play—where we walkthrough a typical day with our users, asking questions as things are happening. This can sound a bit bizarre, but it is an excellent technique to gather information for user-centered.
The purpose of this is to collect qualitative feedback to realistic situations and design toward those scenarios. There is a huge difference between “business process” and actual business reality. Setting that “WOW” factor; means getting it right the first time. When you deploy, your users will love you!
Ever walked a mile in your user’s shoes? Contextual design services are an excellent way to do so. You can’t solve their problems unless you understand them from a cognitive, user-centered perspective.
