Contextual Inquiry PDF

10/25/2024 Contextual inquiry 1 Contextual design Contextual design is a method to understand how people work to help design better systems. 2 1 ...

10/25/2024 Contextual inquiry 1 Contextual design Contextual design is a method to understand how people work to help design better systems. 2 1  10/25/2024 Key Elements: Contextual Inquiry: Gathering data from users while they work. Work Modeling: Creating models of work based on data. Work Redesign: Using models and data to design systems that enhance future work processes. 3 Why Contextual Inquiry? Need to understand what will help people do their work better while fitting into their lives and matching their culture. 4 2  10/25/2024 Key Insights: Uncovering hidden work practices. Understanding cultural and organizational influences. Identifying inefficiencies or breakdowns in current processes. 5 Historical influences on Contextual inquiry 6 3  10/25/2024 Principles of Contextual Inquiry Four Principles: Context: Observing users in their natural work environment. Partnership: Working collaboratively with users as co-investigators. explanation: Assigning meaning to observations. Focus: Maintaining a clear research focus but allowing flexibility in conversation. 7 1. Context Definition: The interrelated conditions within which something occurs or exists Understand work in its natural environment Go to the stakeholders (users, agents, etc.) Observe real work Interview while she/he is working 8 4  10/25/2024 Key differences in methods Interviews, surveys, focus Contextual Inquiry groups Remembered experience (or summary Ongoing experience & concrete data data & abstractions) where work is happening Subjective Objective Limited by reliability of human memory Limited by ability to observe directly What customers think & say they do What customers do 9 Context do’s & don’ts Go to the workplace & see the work as it unfolds Seek concrete data Direct conversation to ongoing work Customer: "I usually record appointments in my calendar” Interviewer: "Could you go ahead & walk me through the process?” If direct observation is not possible in the area of focus, elicit retrospective accounts. “Think about the last time you used System-X. Take me through the steps you went through with the system to complete the job.” 10 5  10/25/2024 Context do’s & don’ts Avoid summary information Don’t ask: "What do you dislike about the ordering system?” Instead ask: "Could you show me what you have to do to place an order? Let me know about things you like and don’t like about the process as we go through it" 11 Context do’s & don’ts Avoid abstract data Watch out for words like "usually,” “generally,” etc. Abstractions are open to explanation & can compromise the concrete data needed to guide the design Instead, direct conversation towards ongoing work or recent past events You want responses that include words like: “Let me show you…” “Here’s how I do it...” “Last time, I …” 12 6  10/25/2024 Pay attention! User’s workspace User's work User's work intentions User's words Tools used How people work together Business goals Organizational and cultural structure Be guided by focus (and open to changing focus if the changed focus falls within another area of concern) 13 2. Partnership Definition: A relationship characterized by close cooperation. The goal is to make the customer and your collaborators understand the customer’s work within your area of focus. The participant should understand the focus. Build an equitable relationship with the user Not traditional interviewer-interviewee Not master-apprentice model An approximation for partnership, but has limitations Not expert novice (unless they are experts) Not host-guest (be nosy) 14 7  10/25/2024 Partnership => informed consent Informed consent is a fundamental principle in doing empirical work Tell people why you are doing the inquiry and ask for their consent It is the “right thing” to do...and it may be required by law (depending on your employer) Keep data confidential! Do not use data for any purposes not disclosed in the consent agreement. 15 Establishing partnership Share control Use open-ended questions that invite users to talk: "What are you doing?" "Is that what you expect?" "Why are you doing X...?" Let the user lead the conversation (provided on focus) Listen! Pay attention to non-verbal communication 16 8  10/25/2024 3. explanation You can’t escape this, so make it explicit! Two kinds of explanation: During data collection and after data collection 17 Isn’t this really time consuming? Rephrasing, getting behind the behavior, asking for examples, step-by-step, questioning terms and concepts, etc., really slows things down. How do I know what to focus on? 18 9  10/25/2024 4. Focus Focus is a perspective We always have an entering focus Better to make it explicit Characteristics of focus: Helps keep conversation on useful topics Set of pre-conceived assumptions & beliefs Reveals & conceals 19 Role of focus Directs the selection of participants Directs questioning Creates understanding Provides rich data 20 10  10/25/2024 Focus do’s & don’ts DO allow the focus to direct conversation DO allow focus to expand Probe surprises & contradictions Probe what you don’t know or understand Be wary of nodding in agreement (Do you understand?) DO challenge focus assumptions DON’T try to validate them DO avoid “expert blind spot” 21 Focus will differ in different stages of development 22 11  10/25/2024 Setting focus 1. Form a team of stakeholders 2. Brainstorm: questions, assumptions, design ideas 3. Record the ideas generated 4. Prune questions 5. Group questions w/ sticky notes (affinity diagram) 6. Develop a generalized focus statement 7. Review focus w/ the team 23 Conducting a contextual inquiry 24 12  10/25/2024 Work-based interview Use when: Product or process already exists User can complete a task while you observe Work can be interrupted 25 Steps in a work-based interview 1. Introduction 2. Transition 3. Observation and explanation 4. Wrap-up 26 13  10/25/2024 1. Introduction 1.Introduce yourself & any other team members present & their roles 2.Get consent/permission to record (if applicable) 3.Articulate your focus Vital for creating partnership 4.Get an overview of their work Helps you interpret what you will be seeing 5.Solicit opinions about tools (if relevant) 27 2. Transition Transition to OBSERVING THEM DO THE ACTUAL THE WORK “OK, we’ve been talking about your work, but now I’d like to watch you do your actual work. Just do what you would normally do. I’d like you to talk aloud about what you’re doing as you work. And if there are things I don’t understand or would like to know more about, I will ask you about them. If it’s not a good time to interrupt, just let me know. I want you to basically do your work. Ready to get started?” Key points Customer will do work while you watch Encourage thinking aloud Interviewer will interrupt; OK for participant to say “Not a good time for an interruption.” 28 14  10/25/2024 3. Observation and explanation Encourage users to "think aloud" as they work Take notes Follow your focus and draw the user out Interpret & get validation OPTIONAL: Co-design with the user (CAUTION: be careful not to use up the precious time you have to observe the work with speculations about what “would” be useful, especially if the design idea is complex; there are often better ways, such as prototyping, to codesign) 29 4. Wrap-up Summarize understandings Ask any "pet" questions Give tips on system use Thank the user Leave door open for future explorations Important for contextual design, should you discover things you should have asked but didn’t Important for designing prototypes 30 15  10/25/2024 Problems with asking about new features People understand their world within a structure (“functional fixedness”) What we usually get: adding new features, fixing problems, transferring features we’ve seen elsewhere. Seldom a total redesign. People have difficulty imagining hypothetical situations People are happy to make something up 31 Pay attention! What, exactly, should you pay attention to? Flow of work Sequence of work Culture of the work Artifacts used in the work 32 16  10/25/2024 Flow of the work 33 Sequence of the work 34 17  10/25/2024 The culture in which the work exists 35 Challenges they might face during contextual inquiry Time Constraints Access and Availability Interruptions Observer Bias Users Feeling Self-Conscious Multifaceted Workflows Balancing Observation 36 18