It is an one of the most important Usability activity in the analysis phase of UCD process.

1. Welcome to a session on Contextual Inquiry Rajesh Jha [email_address]

2. Contextual Inquiry What is Contextual Inquiry ? Contextual Inquiry is a field data gathering technique for examining and understanding end users and their workplace, tasks, issues and preferences. Need for a Contextual Inquiry The best way to get to know users and their tasks is to spend time with them, in their own environments, watching them do the things that your Application/ Website or a Product is going to support or enable. This knowledge could be used to make more informed decisions in the Design Process.

4. In the context of User Centered Design Process Contextual Inquiry

5. In the context of User Centered Design Process Contextual Inquiry

6. When is Contextual Inquiry appropriate In the early stages of development When the environment in which users work really influences how they use the product When you want to know about work practices in unfamiliar domains (i.e. lawyers looking for cases in a digital library) CI is appropriate whenever you need to develop or communicate an understanding of the users of an existing or proposed system. Contextual Inquiry

7. When is Contextual Inquiry appropriate - Examples Operation Theatre Call Center Stock Exchange Trading ATM Machine Contextual Inquiry

8. Contextual Inquiry is NOT: An Interrogation A formal Interview A forum to tell users they are doing it “all wrong” and how to do it right A forum to tell users how to do their work or how technology could make it easier Contextual Inquiry

10. Contextual Inquiry is difficult because Users may be shy, or even suspicious Users may not want you to see them make errors or other mistakes Users do things differently when people are observing them work You are not sure what to look for You collect an enormous amount of data Contextual Inquiry

11. Contextual Inquiry is useful because You learn about the users and their tasks You learn about the workflow You learn about the constraints on the design You gain design inspiration You establish a trusting relationship You inform the design of the system Contextual Inquiry

12. Few differentiators Contextual Inquiry is more of a discovery process than an evaluation process Key difference between Contextual Inquiry and Interview is that Contextual Inquiry focuses more on observing the task and less on discussing how it is done. Contextual Inquiry

13. How many people are needed? Two people should be involved in any site visits, if possible. It is not possible to capture all the available information, but using two people maximizes the data returned. At least two people should be involved in analyzing the data. Contextual Inquiry

24. References http://www.sitepoint.com/article/contextual-enquiry-primer http://www.infodesign.com.au/usabilityresources/analysis/contextualenquiry.asp http://jthom.best.vwh.net/usability/context.htm http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs147/project/02-contextual-inquiry.html http://www.designedforall.com/userexperienceservices/contextualenquiry/ http://www.steptwo.com.au/columntwo/archives/001529.html http://www.usability.gov/methods/contextual.html#whatis Contextual Inquiry

25. Contextual Inquiry Thank You