Database Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 3
Field Research:
Data Collection and Interpretation
The first phase of Contextual Design guides a team through gathering field data and inter-
preting it as a team. By capturing issues and modeling each individual user's experience the
team records the data that will later be consolidated to build a coherent view of the practices
and experiences of the whole user population. This phase is about getting the best design
data while involving and immersing the team in the lives of their users.
3.1 CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY
Gathering requirements for a product is not simply a matter of asking users what they need,
like gathering pebbles from a beach. One cannot simply ask for design requirements, in part
becausepeopledon'tknowwhattechnologyiscapableof,butmorebecausemostpeopleare
not aware of what they really do. The everyday things people do become habitual and un-
conscious, so they are usually unable to articulate their practices. People can say what they
do in general terms and can identify critical problems; they can say what makes them angry
with the tools they use. But they usually cannot provide day-to-day details about what they
do. They cannot describe inner motivations such as the need to express a particular identity
or to feel connected with people they care about. They are likely to forget about the work-
arounds they had to invent to overcome problems in their current products. This low-level
detail of everyday practice is critical to design for life.
ContextualInquiry,thefielddatagatheringtechniqueofContextualDesign,revealsthese
unconscious and tacit aspects of life. It guides designers in going out into the field and talk-
ing with people about their work and life while observing them. If designers watch people
while they engage in their activities, then people do not have to articulate their practices.
If they do blow-by-blow retrospective accounts of things that happened in the recent past,
people can stick with the details of specific cases using artifacts and reenactments to re-
mind them of what happened. Contextual Inquiry immerses designers in the user's whole
life—including those aspects which the user doesn't know how to articulate.
