Contextual Inquiry is a qualitative user research method that combines observation with in-depth interviews in the user’s natural environment. It aims to understand user behaviors, workflows, motivations, and pain points in context, offering deep insights for user-centered design.
Contextual inquiry is rooted in ethnographic research and follows a semi-structured format. Researchers take on an “apprentice” role while users act as “masters,” demonstrating how they accomplish tasks while narrating their actions and decision-making processes. Conducted in real-life settings, such as workplaces or homes, contextual inquiry allows researchers to identify usability issues, workflow inefficiencies, and latent user needs that may be missed in controlled environments or post-hoc interviews.
The methodology supports an open-ended, adaptive approach that can evolve as the session progresses, uncovering insights that are often more authentic than those gathered through surveys or lab-based testing.
A UX researcher conducting a contextual inquiry for a hospital’s electronic health record system might shadow nurses during their shifts, observing how they record patient data, switch between systems, and manage time-sensitive tasks. While observing, the researcher asks questions like, “What are you thinking when you click this?” or “Why do you use that form instead of this one?” These observations and insights inform the redesign of a more intuitive, efficient interface for the nursing staff.
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