In the user experience field, user research is taking more and more relevance. Contextual inquiry adds useful information about the way people interact with products. To know the real context of use allows development teams to create more friendly, adaptive and innovative interfaces.

Contextual inquiry is one of the techniques used in user-centered design with the purpose of knowing the context of use for a given product (software, device, Web site, app, etc.) 

What is the context of use?

The context of use is the real and specific situation in which final users (people) use a product.

Why it is important to know the context of use?

The context of use define the way in which a product or interface is used. The context of use is not the same for a mobile phone application than for desktop software. In the first case, it is possible that the user is moving and performing other tasks while using the phone, tasks that might require interaction with objects, people, and situations that exceed interactions produced within the phone interface itself. In the second case, the user might be sitting at his desk most of the time with the screen front him, a keyboard and a mouse. Clearly, one type of interaction is very different from the other.

How is contextual inquiry done?

The methodology of a contextual inquiry has a lot of anthropology. In fact, it could be considered derivative of participant observation, a methodology used in anthropology where the observer (consultant) goes into the daily practices of a given group of people (users) with the objective of getting to know their every day practices, in the context in which they are pursued, and with what purpose and motivations.  

Adapted to user-centered design methodology, the participant observation or contextual inquiry consists of observing users, one at a time, in a real and daily situation in which they use a given interface. Specific questions could then be asked in order to better understand what the user has done and why.

Participant observation sessions have three different stages:

• Introduction: the user is told what is going to be done and with what purpose. It is very important to generate empathy and create an atmosphere of confidence with the person to avoid bias during the observation process.  
• Observation: consists of taking notes of the users’ actions and the context in which they are developed. During this moment it is not convenient to interrupt the flux of actions with questions but rather to concentrate in practices that take place.
• Questions: this is the moment for asking questions about what was observed. The user should interrupt (if possible) his/her tasks to respond to any doubts that the consultants could have.   

Planning a contextual inquiry

The steps that should be followed to perform a contextual inquiry are very similar to other methodologies of user research. Nevertheless, it has its particularities. We recommend the following steps:

1. Research of user profiles.
2. Research of critical tasks for each profile.
3. Research of the product (software, application, Web site, device, etc.)
4. Definition of the script for observations.
5. Definition of the schedule (facilities, time and dates)
6. Recruitment of users.
7. Development of observations.
8. Analysis of the collected information.
9. Elaboration of reports.
10. Presentation of findings.

The challenge of contextual inquiry

The process of observing users interacting with a given interface and with their context could provide with insurmountable amounts of information that are difficult to process. The challenge is centered in indentifying the relevant information regarding the research objectives. This which could be seen as a very simple task requires of considerable experience from the consultant team in charge of the process, especially to arrive to solid-based conclusions from the observations conducted.