Contextual Inquiry

The contextual inquiry is a specific type of interview to obtain information about the context of use, where users are first asked a set of standard questions and then observed and questioned while they work in their own environments.

This technique is generally used at the beginning of the design process and is good for getting information about user’s environment and the actual technology the user works with.

Contextual inquiry defines four principles to guide the interaction:

• Context:
  Go to the user’s actual workplace and watch them do their own work tasks.
• Partnership:
  The researcher and the user are collaborators in understanding the work of the user
• Interpretation:
  The researcher develop shared interpretations and insights with the user during the interview.
• Focus:
  Set a focus for each interview