Summary: Rapid Contextual Design, Chapter 4, The Contextual Inquiry Interview

This chapter covers two major aspects for the contextual inquiry interview: the key concepts and the procedure.

The procedure of the contextual inquiry interview is generally composed of three steps:

First, preparation. The day before the interview, the interviewer need to confirm with the participants the time and location of the interview. Also, in order not to destroy the details of the natural working environment, the interviewer should tell the participants not to clean up their work place. In addition, related measures for protecting confidentiality should also be prepared.

Second, during the interview: if there are more than two people that you want to interview, give an introductory group talk first after you arrive at the site; be prepared to deal with unexpected issues, such as persuading the participant to do the interview in his/her office, not in the conference room, protecting confidentiality, switching politely to another person noticing that you are interviewing a wrong person; introduce clearly the aim and the focus of your interview and ask the participant for the permission to audio record; find the best point for the transition from traditional interview to Contextual inquiry. During the contextual inquiry, there are 6 issues needed to be taken care of: “be nosy, take notes, collect artifacts, share design ideas stimulated by events, draw the physical workspace, and the role of digital photos (Page 89-91).”

Third, wrap-up. At the end of the interview, not just say “thank you.” Use this “opportunity to summarize what you learned about the users’ role and work,” ask “pet issues,” such as “marketing or business questions,” and give more tips to the participant for using the product.

There are four key concepts for the contextual inquiry interview: context, partnership, interpretation, and focus. The definitions of these concepts are on Page 80. At the end of the chapter, the authors provide Dos and Don’ts for each of these concepts (Table 4-1 to Table 4-5).