Anthropologists Go Native in the Corporate Village

Anthropologist Elizabeth Briody earned her PhD studying communities of Mexican-American farm workers and Catholic nuns. For the past 11 years, though, she's been studying a different community -- the men and women of General Motors. As GM's 'industrial anthropologist,' Briody explores the intricacies of life at the company. It's not all that different from her previous work. 'Anthropologists help elicit the cultural patterns of an organization,' she says. 'What rules do people have about appropriate and inappropriate behavior? How do they learn those rules and pass them on to others?' Briody is a pioneer in a growing and influential field -- corporate anthropology. What began as an experiment in a handful of companies such as GM has become an explosion. In recent years, some of the biggest names in business have recruited highly trained anthropologists to understand their workers and customers better, and to help design products that better reflect emerging cultural trends. These companies are convinced that the tools of ethnographic research -- minute observation, subtle interviewing, systematic documentation -- can answer questions about organizations and markets that traditional research tools can't.

Kane, Kate A. Fast Company (1996). Articles>Usability>Methods>Contextual Inquiry

Bloom's Taxonomy in Technical Content Development

Technical writers provide information enabling users to learn and apply various technologies. In the endeavor to enable users, technical writers often need to use different strategies of classification, presentation, and structuring for the different types of information. However, in most cases such classifications or decisions about the best method of presentation and optimum structure are guided by instinct and are rarely heuristic. In this article, we present an established classification of information called Bloom’s taxonomy (of educational objectives), which can help technical writers make decisions about content classification.

Robbani, Wasique. KeyContent.org (2006). Articles>Document Design>Academic>Contextual Inquiry

Contextual Inquiry

The contextual inquiry is a specific type of interview for gathering field data from users. It is usually done by one interviewer speaking to one interviewee (person being interviewed) at a time. The aim is to gather as much data as possible from the interviews for later analysis.

UsabilityNet. Resources>Usability>Methods>Contextual Inquiry

Contextual Inquiry

Contextual inquiry is basically a structured field interviewing method, based on a few core principles that differentiate this method from plain, journalistic interviewing. Contextual inquiry is more a discovery process than an evaluative process; more like learning than testing. Contextual inquiry is based on three core principles: that understanding the context in which a product is used (the work being performed) is essential for elegant design, that the user is a partner in the design process, and that the usability design process, including assessment methods like contextual inquiry and usability testing, must have a focus. For example, suppose you need to assess the usability of a wrench for automotive repair. Using contextual inquiry, you'd visit mechanics at auto repair shops and see how they work. You'd take in not only physical arrangements such as the location of the tool chests, or cramped conditions inside engine compartments, but also environmental concerns, such as the level of cleanliness of their hands, or the noise level in the shop, or the tight schedules imposed by their bosses. All of these would help define a context for their work--and thus a context for the usage of your product, the wrench. You'd also listen to their gripes about your product; how it slips out of their hands if they've been working on greasy stuff, how it gnaws the corners off stubborn bolts. You'd ask them what would make their jobs easier; what design changes would help them. They're a partner in the design process. Of course, you'd conduct all this research centering on the one thing you're analyzing: the wrench. This focus is important--it sets the goals for the visit ('We need to know how they store their wrenches'). Once you're done with your site visit, you can assess from your notes whether you found out what you needed to know.

Hom, James. VWH.net. Articles>Usability>Methods>Contextual Inquiry

Contextual Inquiry: Listening and Questioning to Improve Information Design  

Contextual Inquiry is a field research technique that focuses on interviewing users in their own context as they do actual work. As a basis for effective design, Contextual Inquiry can contribute to the requirements and structure of systems and information. This half-day workshop presents a practical introduction to Contextual Inquiry as a step in designing information that supports and extends users' work.

Beabes, Minette A., Mary E. Raven, and Karen Holtzblatt. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Information Design>Methods>Contextual Inquiry

Driving Innovation and Creativity through Customer Data

This article explores the foundations of designing for innovation. Karen Holtzblatt has created contextual inquiry, a practical, customer-centered approach that helps designers develop creative solutions that dominate the competition.

Perfetti, Christine. User Interface Engineering (2002). Articles>Usability>Methods>Contextual Inquiry

Ethnographic Study / Field Observation

Observing users in the field is often the best way to determine their usability requirements. Traditional usability testing, while providing a laboratory environment that makes data collection and recording easy, also removes the user and the product from the context of the workplace. Sometimes, it's best to see exactly how things are done in the real world.

Hom, James. VWH.net. Articles>Usability>Methods>Contextual Inquiry

The Interface in the Environment: "One Size Fits Nobody"

At the outset of an interface design project we would normally conduct a detailed phase of user requirements gathering. We have discussed the various methods of conducting these in previous articles, but typically this includes stakeholder interviews and task analysis exercises. As many of you will be aware the results of this stage will lead to the development of user personas, task scenarios and ultimately lead to the development of wireframe screens of the interface. We tailor this approach to suit the job, so that specialised interfaces such as stock trading software will focus more on complex task analysis while mass-market interfaces such as Interactive TV will focus more on different user profiles. If the research and analysis is carried out well, then the resulting interaction design should be effective, allowing users to complete the required tasks easily. However, apart from the user and task there is one other key factor influencing the usability of the interface – the user environment.

Long, Frank. Frontend Infocentre (2001). Design>Web Design>User Interface>Contextual Inquiry

Remote Contextual Inquiry: A Technique to Improve Enterprise Software

Enterprise software usability is difficult to evaluate because the standard product shipped on a CD is almost always customized when it is implemented. How then can we learn about the design issues that actual users encounter with customized software?

English, Jeff and Lynn Rampoldi-Hnilo. Boxes and Arrows (2004). Articles>Usability>Methods>Contextual Inquiry

Research in Context: Ethnographic Usability  

The only way to judge a product's acceptance in the workplace is through its use. Before release, developers would like to predict its acceptability to the target market. One predictor of acceptability is usability test results. Usability testing takes place outside of the user's natural environment in an artificial environment. This paper suggests ethnographic information might be used to predict a product's acceptability in the market in conjunction with traditional usability testing.

Dorazio, Patti A. and Julia Stovall. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Usability>Ethnographies>Contextual Inquiry