Contextual Inquiry

Imagine you’re a designer at a tech startup and you’ve just finished the final prototype of a new digital workspace tool. To understand its real-world use, you partner with a marketing agency, offering them free access. In exchange, you ask that they allow you to conduct some observational research and interview the staff on their experience with the new tool. Initially, the team’s excited about everything you have incorporated. However, once they start implementing it across more nuanced situations they provide some critical comments about how the tool’s complex features are leading to confusion and inefficiency. 

As it turns out, testing in the corporate environment was the key to uncovering issues you hadn’t spotted when testing the software. You realize something didn’t click once the product was implemented in their environment. Now you can return to your office armed with the insights to make the required changes.

Contextual inquiry is a research method used in user experience (UX) design to understand how people use a product or service in their real-world environment and context. By directly observing users and conducting semi-structured interviews in their natural settings, designers can understand the specific needs and challenges that users face with their products.¹ For instance, in our hypothetical scenario, it was beneficial to observe and interview the marketing agency staff in their everyday environment. Conducting a contextual inquiry session highlights how your workspace tool wasn’t as user-friendly as you expected.

Contextual inquiry is based on four principles:²

• Context: The interview is performed in the environment where the client will be using the product. For example their home, office, or shared workspace. These feedback sessions have adapted to remote work, with the ability to conduct interviews virtually.
• Partnership: It’s important to create a comfortable environment and foster clear lines of communication between the researcher(s) and participant(s) so that everyone completely understands what’s going on. It can be a challenge to behave naturally when met with someone new in your environment, this can skew results and lead to null findings. All participants must provide informed consent and feel comfortable with the process. 
• Mutual Interpretation: Feedback is necessary in a research method like contextual inquiry. The researcher will usually reiterate the feedback delivered by the participants to ensure they have accurately captured their views and feelings, this allows them to clarify for the most accurate results.
• Focus: Although a comfortable environment should be created, the conversation shouldn’t drift off onto other topics and should be centered around the product and user navigation/use.

With those principles in mind, the usual steps are as follows:¹

1. The primer:  Involves a casual introduction that allows the participant to become comfortable with the researcher and the space around them.
2. The transition: The researcher explains what will happen during the observation/interview. This typically includes advising them about the types of activities they'll be observed performing, the kind of questions they might be asked, and the overall goals of the study.
3. Contextual interview: Direct observation and learning is conducted. This is followed by a one-on-one discussion. 
4. Wrap-up: The researcher summarizes their findings and asks for final confirmation and/or clarification.
5. Data analysis. the findings are translated and interpreted to inform any potential changes.

Contextual inquiry is useful during the early stages of product development. This is especially true when there’s a complex environment like a hospital. Immersion in these settings allows researchers to capture how unpredictable events that occur in complex environments directly affect product navigation or usage.