Introduction - Contextual Design: Evolved - page 1

CHAPTER 1
Introduction
ContextualDesignisauser-centereddesignprocessthatusesin-depthfieldresearchtodrive
innovative design. Contextual Design was first invented in 1988 and has since been used
in a wide variety of industries and taught in universities all over the world. It is a complete
front-end design process rooted in Contextual Inquiry, the widespread, industry-standard
field data gathering technique. Contextual Design adds techniques to analyze and present
user data, drive ideation from data, design specific product solutions, and iterate those solu-
tions with customers. In 2013, we overhauled the method to account for the way that tech-
nology has radically changed people's lives since the invention of the touch-screen phones
andotheralways-on,always-connected,andalways-carrieddevices.This topic describesthe
new Contextual Design, evolved to help teams design for the way technology now fits into
peoples' lives.
ContextualDesignisastep-by-stepprocessforcollectingfielddataandusingittodesign
any sort of technical product (as first described in Contextual Design [ 1 ] and then Rap-
id Contextual Design [ 2 ] ). It has been used to design business systems, websites, mobile
devices, mobile apps, medical devices, cloud-based solutions, consumer electronics, auto-
motive electronics, and more. There are three phases to Contextual Design. First, the team
immerses itself in the life of individual users through field visits and interprets the data us-
ingmodelstoshowabigpictureofthewholemarket.Second,theteamusesthatbigpicture
to drive ideation, inventing new product concepts from the user data. Third, these product
concepts are designed with concrete user interfaces and behavior, which are tested and iter-
ated with users. Contextual Design can be used to refine or extend existing products, design
for new markets, or drive longer-term product roadmaps. It has been used as part of many
requirements and software develop-ment processes, including Agile.
Contextual Design is team-based. It is designed to take advantage of a cross-functional
team including such specialties as product management, marketing, product architects, user
experience designers (user research and user interface), developers, and service designers,
each providing their unique skills and insights to help invent the right solution for users. It
builds in ways of involving stakeholders and other team members to assure buy-in from the