Lecture 2:
Discovering what people can't tell you:
Contextual Inquiry and Analysis
Methodology
Brad Myers
05-863 / 08-763 / 46-863: Introduction to
Human Computer Interaction for
Technology Executives
Fall, 2010, Mini 2
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Enrollment = 100 students!
TSB-IA
25
SCS-ISR
94% Masters
20
CMU-IS
15
CIT-ECE
11
CMU-IT
9
SCS-SE
3
CMU-IPD
3
CIT-INI
3
TSB-IA3
2
HSS-SDS
1
HSS-HSS
1
HNZ-PPM
1
CMU-SHS
1
CIT-SDT
1
CIT-CIT
1
CIT-CEE
1
CFA-DES
1
CFA-ARC
1
0
2
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
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20
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Pick Devices for Assignments
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Note about using your own company’s
products
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Random order for currently enrolled &
wait-listed students
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OK, if can evaluate it with users for HW #1, and
redesign for the rest of the HW’s
But no sharing of projects – individual
Have choices from some distance and absent
students, will go in order
If late to class, go to end of the line
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Some Usability Methods
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Contextual Inquiry
Contextual Analysis (Design)
Paper prototypes
Think-aloud protocols
Heuristic Evaluation
Affinity diagrams (WAAD)
Personas
Wizard of Oz
Task analysis
Cognitive Walkthrough
KLM and GOMS (CogTool)
Video prototyping
Body storming
Expert interviews
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Questionnaires
Surveys
Interaction Relabeling
Log analysis
Focus groups
Card sorting
Diary studies
Improvisation
Use cases
Scenarios
Cognitive Dimensions
“Speed Dating”
…
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Contextual Inquiry and Analysis/Design
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One method for organizing the development process
We teach it to our MS and BS students
Seems to be very successful
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Hartson-Pyla text: Chapter 3,6
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Originally described in book:
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(doing things in a different order than text)
H. Beyer and K. Holtzblatt. 1998. Contextual Design: Defining
Customer-Centered Systems. San Francisco, CA:Morgan
Kaufmann Publishers, Inc. ISBN: 1558604111.
http://www.incent.com/
Another book (doesn’t work as well):
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K. Holtblatt, J. BurnsWendell, and S. Wood. 2004. Rapid
Contextual Design: A How-to Guide to Key Techniques for UserCentered Design. San Francisco, CA:Morgan Kaufmann
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Publishers, Inc.
User Study Methods
& the different fields they come from
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Questionnaires, Interviews
 Social Psychology
Focus Groups
 Business, marketing technique
Laboratory studies
 Experimental Psychology
Think-aloud protocols
 Cognitive Psychology
Participant/observer ethnographic studies
 Anthropology
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Contextual Inquiry & Analysis/Design
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Contextual Inquiry
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An evolving method
A kind of “ethnographic” or “participatory design” method
Combines aspects of other methods:
 Interviewing, think-aloud protocols,
participant/observer in the context of the work
Next step: Contextual Analysis (Hartson-Pyla term)
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Beyer-Holtzblatt call it “Contextual Design”
Also includes diagrams (“models”) to describe results
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“Contextual Inquiry”
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Interpretive field research method
Depends on conversations with users in the context of
their work
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“Direct observation” when possible
When not possible
 cued recall of past experience, or
 recreation of related experience
Used to define requirements, plans and designs.
Drives the creative process:
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In original design
In considering new features or functionality
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Why Context?
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Design complete work process
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Integration!
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Fits into “fabric” of entire operations
Not just “point solutions” to specific problems
Consistency, effectiveness, efficiency, coherent
Design from data
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Not just opinions, negotiation
Not just a list of features
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Who?
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Users
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Between 6 – 20
Representative of different roles
Note: may not be people who will be doing the
purchasing of the system
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E.g., if for an enterprise; public kiosk
Interviewers: “Cross-functional” team
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Designers
UI specialists
Product managers
Marketing
Technical people
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Where?
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Design is a group activity
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Shared across different groups
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Useful to have a designated, long-term space
for the project team
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Interviews at user site
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Key Concepts in Contextual Inquiry
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Context
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Partnership
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Understand users' needs in their work or living
environment
Work with users as co-investigators
Interpretation
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Assigning meaning to the observations
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Context
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Definition:
 The interrelated conditions within which
something occurs or exists
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Understand work in its natural environment
 Go to the user
 Observe real work
 Use real examples and artifacts
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“Artifact”: An object created by human workmanship
Interview while she/he is working
Context exists even when not a “work” activity
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Use “work” here just to mean “doing something”
Can be home, entertainment, etc.
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Key distinctions about context
Interviews, Surveys, Focus
Groups
Contextual Inquiry
Summary data & abstractions
Ongoing experience &
concrete data
What customers say
What users do
Subjective
Objective
Limited by reliability of human
memory
Spontaneous, as it happens
What customers think they want
What users actually need
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Elements of User's Context: Pay
Attention to all of these
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User's work space
User's work
User's work intentions
User's words (language used)
Tools used
How people work together
Business goals
Organizational and cultural structure
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Standard Contextual Inquiry:
Work-based Interview
Use when:
 Product or process already exists
 Or a near competitor’s
 User is able to complete a task while you observe
 Work can be interrupted
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Interview Recording and Note-Taking
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Do record interview
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Video recordings
Screen capture software with laptop microphone for user
When to take notes?
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Note taking can help you pay closer attention
Notes lead to faster turn-around
Do not let it interfere with interviewing
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Usually would use a second person
How to record?
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What the user says – in quotes
What the user does – plain text
Your interpretation – in parentheses
Write fast!
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Reasons for variation on the
standard work-based interview
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Different goals
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Designing a known product
 Know the competition
Addressing a new work domain
 Study what replacing
Designing for a new technology
Types of tasks that make work-based inquiry
impractical
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Intermittent – instrument or keep logs
Uninterruptible – video and review later
Extremely long – point sample and review
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Some Alternative Contextual
Inquiry Interview Methods
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For intermittent tasks
 In-context cued recall
 Activity logs
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For uninterruptible tasks
 Post-observation inquiry
For extremely long or multi-person tasks
 Artifact walkthrough
New technology within current work
 Future Scenario
Prototype or prior version exists
 Prototype/Test drive
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Partnership
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Definition:
 A relationship characterized by close cooperation
Build an equitable relationship with the user
Suspend your assumptions and beliefs
Invite the user into the inquiry process
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Why is Partnership Important?
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Information is obtained through a dialog
The user is the expert.
Not a conventional interview or consultant relationship
Alternative way to view the relationship:
Master/Apprentice
The user is the “master craftsman” at his/her work
You are the apprentice trying to learn
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Establishing Partnership
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Share control
Use open-ended questions that invite users to talk:
 "What are you doing?"
 "Is that what you expect?"
 "Why are you doing...?"
Let the user lead the conversation
Listen!
Pay attention to communication that is non-verbal
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Analysis
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In the moment:
Simultaneous data collection and analysis during
interview
Post interview:
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Using notes, tapes, and transcripts
Analysis by a group:
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Integrates multiple perspectives
Creates shared vision
Creates shared focus
Builds teams
Saves time
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Defining the Tasks
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In a real Contextual Inquiry, user decides the
tasks
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But you still must decide the focus
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Investigate real-world tasks, needs, context
What tasks you want to observe
That are relevant to your product plan
But for Assignment 1, you will have to invent
some tasks
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Test Tasks
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Task design is difficult part of usability testing
Representative of “real” tasks
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Appropriate difficulty and coverage
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Should last about 2 min. for expert, less than 30 min. for novice
Short enough to be finished, but not trivial
Tasks not humorous, frivolous, or offensive
Easy task first, progressively harder
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Sufficiently realistic and compelling so users are motivated to
finish
Can let users create their own tasks if relevant
But better if independent
Remember: Not asking their opinions
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Test Script
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Useful to have a script
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Should read instructions out loud
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Make sure say everything you want
Make sure all users get same instructions
Ask if users have any questions
Make sure instructions provide goals only in a general
way, and doesn’t give away information
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Describe the result and not the steps
Avoid product names and technical terms that appear on the
web site
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Don’t give away the vocabulary
Example:
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“The clock should have the right time”;
not: “Use the hours and minutes buttons to set the time”
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Example of CI
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Video of sample session with a eCommerce site:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~bam/uicourse/EHCIcontexualinquiry.mpg
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Issues to observe
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Interview of work in progress, in “context”
Actual session of doing a task
 Not an interview asking about possible tasks, etc.
 Note that focusing on expert behavior & breakdowns
Questions to clarify about routine, motivations
 Why do certain actions: need intent for actions
 Notice problems (“breakdowns”)
Notice what happens that causes users to do something
(“triggers”)
 E.g. appearance of error messages, other feedback, external
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events (phone ringing), etc.
Screen shots of important points in video
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~bam/uicourse/EHCIcontexualinquiryScreens.ppt
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