Contextual Inquiry is one of the methodologies of User-centered Designs where a participant is observed during his work-process under naturally occurring context to identify the breakdowns in interactions and propose better work practices.
Participant: An event services coordinator at University of Washington, aged 26. His day-to-day operations include coordinating and handling various campus events, updating events website, dispatching reports and managing staff assistants' schedule. His regular working hours is from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM but heavy workload along with recurrent interruptions makes him toil beyond his working hours.
My Role: User Researcher - Observant
Process:
Participant: An event services coordinator at University of Washington, aged 26. His day-to-day operations include coordinating and handling various campus events, updating events website, dispatching reports and managing staff assistants' schedule. His regular working hours is from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM but heavy workload along with recurrent interruptions makes him toil beyond his working hours.
My Role: User Researcher - Observant
Process:
- Entered participant's work-place
- Followed master-apprentice approach of observing participant under natural-work context
- Note-taking and asking questions from prepared user test-scripts
- Discussion on findings and identifying breakdowns in the process
- Brainstorming, ideation and proposing better design solution
Flow Model: Participant's interactions with other departments
Physical Model: Participant's office
Physical Model: Participant's work area
Result: We observed our master like an apprentice and asked him questions. His answers proved to be poor responses and he was himself unclear of his needs. However, observation under naturally occurring context led to clear understanding and in-depth analysis to identify breakdowns and proposing better solution. To conclude, "what people say they do and what they actually do is different".
