Contextual Inquiry

Contextual inquiry is a type of ethnographic field study that involves in-depth observation and interviews of a small sample of users to gain a robust understanding of work practices and behaviors. Its name describes exactly what makes it valuable — inquiry in context:

• 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 it is especially well-suited for understanding users’ interactions with complex systems and in-depth processes, as well as the point of view of expert users.

How to Conduct Contextual Inquiry

The contextual-inquiry method uses the relationship between a master craftsman and apprentice as a model for the interaction between the participant and the researcher. Though apprenticeship is less common today than it used to be, people are still fairly familiar with the idea and able to draw inspiration from it. Just as a master craftsman teaches an apprentice a skill through doing, a researcher (“the apprentice”) learns about users' tasks by observing a user (“the craftsman”) and asking questions.

4 Grounding Principles

Contextual inquiry is based on 4 principles that help researchers adjust and apply the apprenticeship model to the context of their products and work.

1. Context. The researcher should observe in the natural environment. Just as craftsmen do not prepare a summary of talking points to teach technique in a classroom, researchers should conduct the research where the user typically works, avoiding labs or conference-rooms settings.

2. Partnership. The user and researcher are partners in the process of understanding the work. The researcher should not control the entire session and content of discussions. Both parties should be free to direct the conversation toward what needs to be considered.

3. Interpretation. The researcher should develop a comprehensive and shared interpretation for all important aspects of the work, aided by feedback from the user.

4. Focus. The researcher should understand the purpose of the research project and what information should be sought. This understanding guides the observation and the interviews during sessions.

4-Part Session Structure

Select participants that are uniquely qualified and knowledgeable in the area you need to understand. Then, use the following 4-part structure as a template to guide your approach.

 1. The primer

The primer is meant to ease the participant into the session. Starting casually allows your participant to become comfortable with you and learn what to expect from the session.

• Introduce yourself and take some time upfront to build rapport with your participant.

• Indicate what you hope to achieve during the interview and that you expect the participant to correct any misinterpretations you may develop as you learn.

• Discuss confidentiality and get approval for any filming or recording you may be doing.

• Begin to broach the subject you are interested in. Ask for a summary of the work to be done during the time allotted and ask for any relevant opinions. However, because we know that recollection is not always entirely accurate, be sure to validate these opinions and explanations with your own observation

2. The transition

When finished with the introduction and general interview, make an explicit and clear transition into the contextual interview portion of the meeting. Stop and explain what will happen during the rest of the session and what you need:

• Let the user know that you will watch while she goes about her work and that she should expect you to interrupt whenever you see something interesting to discuss.

• If it is a bad time for interruption, she should communicate this to you and continue until a better stopping point.

Don’t skip this important step. If you do, the user may carry on in interview mode. You need to shift her focus to a different type of interaction with you going forward.

3. The contextual interview

This phase usually goes through multiple iterations of the following 2-step pattern:

• Watch and learn.

• Stop and initiate discussion when the user does something you don’t immediately understand or when you want to confirm an interpretation.

The interview will begin to take on a rhythm of its own with periods of work and periods of discussion throughout. Try to understand underlying processes:

•  Be aware of external resources being used.

• Ask about standard steps vs. extraneous or uncommon variations in their processes and the reasons behind them.

• Explain your interpretations of their tasks and workflow for the users to confirm or correct.

You should initiate discussion for 2 reasons:

1. If you’ve observed something you don’t understand. In this case, ask open-ended questions and let the participant give you details about why she took a certain action.

2. To allow the participant to validate or invalidate your understanding of the user’s mental model. One of the goals of contextual inquiry is to uncover the participant’s mental model of a process. So, when you feel you have a fairly strong hypothesis for this mental model,   ask the participant to weigh in to confirm or correct your understanding.

For example, if a user has two separate monitors and moves different windows from one to another, you may first ask the user to explain why she’s doing that. With the user’s explanation, you might form a hypothesis that provides an understandable structure behind her reasoning — such as certain windows should always go on specific monitors. To validate your hypothesis, you may ask “So, is the laptop monitor for communication only and the big screen for your work tasks?” In which case, the user could confirm your assumption or correct the inference by saying, “It’s more that I like everything that I need to monitor (email, Slack, stock tickers) to be on my laptop screen and active tasks that I am working on my big screen.”

Be judicious about how often you ask participants to validate your interpretations during this phase, as it may bias their future behaviors. You will have time in the next phase, the wrapup, to discuss all your interpretations.

4. The wrap-up

At the end:

• Ask any final clarifying questions.

• Review your notes and summarize what you took away from the interview by explaining your interpretation of the observed processes. This is your users’ chance to give final clarifications and correct your understanding.

The time required for a contextual-inquiry session will depend on the scope context of the work you intend to understand. They can range from an hour or two to several days of observations and interviews.