Database Reference
In-Depth Information
ing: “What if the product just gave you that result without your having to ask?” It is relat-
ively easy to see problems and issues—the interviewer may have to look carefully to see
what is already working. Capturing what is already direct is important because it allows
designertoknowwhatnottochange—andhowtofixhasslesinawaythatfurthersupports
goodaspects ofcurrentpractice. Inthesameway,interviewers lookforlearning issuesand
complexity and probe them when they find them.
Figure 3.3:
Communication model fragment captured during an interview. Such mini-diagrams help clarify
the conversation.
Even when designing a business product, it may be useful to discuss the users' interac-
tionswiththeircoolconsumertools.Thisallowsdesignerstocomparebusinessproductex-
perience with consumer experience explicitly. The perspective gained in this way provides
hints of what a design team might borrow from consumer products that are already valued
by their target population.
The fundamental intent of a Contextual Interview is to get design data: low-level, de-
taileddataaboutthestructureofthepracticeandtheuseoftechnologywithinthatpractice.
ContextualInquiry,whichisbasedonobservingpeopleinthecontextoftheirlifeandwork
while they do their normal activities, has become standard in the industry as the best way
to get this necessary detailed design data. But to design for life we must also understand
how the target activity fits into the whole of the person's life and motivations. This has
necessitated changes in the structure of the field interview itself, as described above. The
resultisaninterviewprocessthatimmersesdesignteammembersinthedetailsofthetasks
usersdoandalsothelargercontextofemotions,motivations,andfittolife.Itimmersesthe
interviewer in the fullness of the user's life so he can embody the user's perspective and
represent it to the team.
3.2 INTERPRETATION SESSIONS
TheContextualInterviewisthefirst
immersion experience
ofContextualDesign.Theyim-
merse a single design team member in the world of the user. The next challenge is to cap-
ture that data for use in such a way that it gets incorporated into the mindset of the team.
Capturing the data is not the major problem for product teams—having a shared under-
standing of the world of the user is.
