Field Research

summary | detail | contextual inquiry methodology | ethnographic interview methodology

Field research involves observing people in their everyday situations (homes, workplaces, schools) to learn their normal or natural behavior. Through direct observation and interaction in the users’ “real-life” context, usability practitioners can learn how this context affects product use, including motivations, constraints, and workarounds. This research builds a deeper understanding of the relationship between users’ work and their environment, resulting in designs that increase user satisfaction with products.

Tec-Ed conducts two types of field research:

Contextual Inquiry

Contextual inquiry is a qualitative data-gathering and data-analysis methodology adapted from the fields of psychology, anthropology, and sociology. It consists of observing and talking with people in their workplaces and homes as they do normal activities. Users become partners in the inquiry with the usability team; an ongoing dialog enhances data collection. Key characteristics of contextual inquiry include:

Exploring people’s use of products within the restrictions of their actual work.
Seeing when and how companion software and artifacts such as notebooks, yellow stickies, and forms are used to complement the product.
Clarifying details about tasks while they occur, to avoid misunderstandings about what users did and why.

Use this method to step back and look at the bigger picture of the users’ motivations and contextual artifacts for accomplishing work. Because commercial product development rarely allows much time for direct customer research, the focus of contextual inquiry is condensed to a few key issues that enrich knowledge, without concern for statistically meaningful data or rigorous comparisons between users.

Ethnographic Interviews

Ethnographic interviewing helps researchers understand how a person’s context of use affects his/her approach to tasks and how the person views his/her own context. Use ethnographic interviewing when the domain to research encompasses more than performing tasks, such as how people organize information for specific purposes. Ethnographic interviews are also appropriate when it is impractical to observe tasks, either because of the length of time the task requires or because it occurs infrequently.

Classic ethnographic research requires entering the situation with a “blank slate” and spending a great deal of time building sufficient understanding to learn what questions to ask and what issues to research. To support the project budget and schedule constraints of commercial product development, condensed ethnographic interviewing methodology refines the scope to a small sphere of the user’s life: the tasks that concern us for product design purposes. Skilled interviewing and good “probing” or follow-up questions elicit valuable insights to inform strategic planning.

Field Research

Contextual Inquiry

Ethnographic Interviews

Related Tec-Ed Papers or Publications