Contextual Interviews

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What are Contextual Interviews?

A contextual interview, or contextual inquiry, is a user research method specifically designed to provide insight into the environment or context in which a design will be used. A contextual interview session typically consists of a mix between a traditional user interview and observations of how the research participants use a product or service in the relevant context.

Contextual interviews were originally developed to research how complex systems were used in the context of work; however, they have since become used more generally for understanding how people use technology in certain contexts. A contextual interview starts with a one-on-one user interview, followed up with an observation session where the interviewer observes how the research participant uses the product or service. The participant is treated as an expert on how to use the product, and is sometimes asked to explain how to interact with it as though explaining it to a novice user. Thus, as the designer’s role “reverses” so as to examine how well a user has grasped the design’s intricacies, issues arising during the interview can also flag problem areas and instances of appropriation (where users find adjunct or unexpected uses for the piece in question).

Contextual interviews are particularly beneficial in that it enables the interviewer to gather information in the moment and context of use—especially advantageous when researching complex systems or work processes. They can help bridge insight gaps from the designer’s viewpoint, expose shortcomings in design considerations, and ultimately optimize the overall design of a product.

Literature on Contextual Interviews

Here's the entire UX literature on Contextual Interviews by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about Contextual Interviews

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Interaction Design Foundation - IxDF. (2016, May 25). What are Contextual Interviews?. Interaction Design Foundation - IxDF.