Contextual inquiry is not especially useful for targeted design tasks like testing a newsletter signup form on a website or redesigning a product webpage. These types of interfaces are fairly straightforward: they don’t typically require in-depth thought processes or an underlying body of knowledge that UX professionals must understand in order to design them

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Contextual inquiry is a type of ethnographic field study that involves in-depth observation and interviews of small samples of users to gain a deep understanding of work practices and behaviors. Typically, it is conducted during the early discovery stages for a new feature or product. 
Key definitions:
- Context: The research takes place in the users’ natural environment as they conduct their activities the way they normally would. The context could be in their home, office, or somewhere else entirely
- Inquiry: The researcher watches the user as she performs her task and asks for information to understand how and why users do what they do

Contextual inquiry is useful for many domains, but especially well suited for considering users’ interactions with complex systems and in-depth processes as well as the point of view of expert users.

Contextual inquiry

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/contextual-inquiry/

Contextual Inquiry: Inspire Design by Observing and Interviewing Users in Their Context

- Users can easily talk about what they are doing and why as they are doing it. This way, contextual inquiry can provide richer and more relevant information about how users complete processes than self-reported or lab-based research methods.
- Solely conducting interviews and surveys rely on user recall, which historically is not accurate
- You get to see things you wouldn’t anticipate and uncover small details that have become habitual and invisible to the participant. You can see the interruptions, illogical processes, and superstitious behaviors that directly influence UX work

Why conduct contextual inquiry?

When contextual inquiry is not useful

Contextual inquiry is based on 4 principles:

- Context: The researcher should observe in the natural environment where the user typically works, avoiding labs or conference-rooms settings
- Partnership: The user and researcher are partners in the process of understanding the work. Both parties should be free to direct the conversation toward what needs to be considered
- Interpretation:  The researcher should produce a comprehensive and shared interpretation for all important aspects of the work, aided by feedback from the user
- Focus: The researcher should understand the purpose of the research project and what information is needed. This understanding guides the observation and the interviews during sessions

Grounding principles of contextual inquiry

Use this 4-part structure as a template to guide your contextual inquiry session:

- The primer
- The transition
- The contextual interview
- The wrapup

Contextual inquiry session structure

- Participants default into interview mode: Participants might begin to treat the session like a tell-all, which is what contextual inquiry seeks to avoid. Remind participants that you are interested in the fine details of their work, so they should complete it as they normally would, without you there.
- The session turns into an airing of grievances: Participants may feel you are looking for their feedback on all the problems with the system, which can turn into a presentation of their frustrations. In this situation, you should redirect the user to work as they normally would and explain the reasoning behind their actions.
- You may bring your own biases to the session: Be purposeful about leaving all your previous understanding about the work behind you and go into the research with an open mind, treating everything you learn with the same level of importance.
- You may bias the user: During the session, the participant may adjust their process to fit into the discussion or your interpretations. Make sure to stress that users should always work as they normally would and favor open-ended conversation that allows them to fill in the blanks for you.

Risks of contextual inquiry

- real-life problems
- typical equipment users have
- details about work space
- hardware preferences (ex: mouse vs. trackpad vs. touchscreen)
- collaboration and resource sharing
- additional tools

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