5/20/2002 1 Conducting and Analyzing a Contextual Interview ICS 205 Spring 2002 Tom Herring Ratiya...

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Conducting and Analyzing a Contextual Interview

ICS 205 Spring 2002

Tom Herring

Ratiya Komalarachun

5/20/20022

Introduction

After K. Holtzblatt and S. Jones, Human-Computer Interactions: Toward the Year 2000, by R. M. Baecker, J. Grudin, W. A. S. Buxton, and S. Greenberg, pp. 241-253,

Contextual inquiry arose from the need to build a general purpose computer system which would be successful in a varied set of user cultures. A system includes hardware, software, services and customer support.

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Specific Challenges

Identify a process which supports people who do similar work but operate in significantly different businesses and national cultures.

Identify a process which efficiently gathers user information within limited time constraints.

Identify a means which accurately translates users’ work information into a form that helps Engineering design a system that meets our goals.

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Comprehensive and Consistent Vision

The technique involves all the team members (hardware and software engineers, people and product managers, writers, marketing and customer support personnel).

Participation by all these members fosters team work and the development of a shared and consistent vision.

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Contextual Inquiry Principles

Not a set of steps or a walkthrough checklist

A process, guided by:

Context

Partnership

Focus

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Context -- Rich in Information

Design information is presented in its most comprehensive form when we speak with people during the performance of their tasks.

By way of contrast, design information is presented primarily as abstractions when people are queried ‘off the job’, losing important information in the process.

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Context -- Teasing the Data

People do not usually think about their work process and the impact of computer tools on their work.

Computer designers are able to ‘tease’ design information from the users most effectively when the user is actually performing their task(s).

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Context -- Detail vs. Summary

When asked about a computer system, users will give abstract, summary information.

When queried while performing a task on a computer system, users remember much more detail about the system’s positive and negative attributes.

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Context -- Finding Touchstones

Touchstones help people recall their work experiences.

Touchstones are ‘crib’ sheets taped to a wall or computer monitors, documentation that is actually opened and used, documents used in meetings, and other artifacts people use to support the performance of their tasks.

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Context -- The Principle

Dialogue with users in their work context.

Tease design information from users while they are ‘in process’ to gain the greatest level of detail.

Be aware of touchstones and the roles they may play in the performance of tasks.

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Partnership -- Sharing Information

Context leads us to dialogue.

Partnership with users makes this dialogue effective, producing quality information.

Information is shared, not extracted, through this approach.

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Partnership -- Expert Users

Acknowledging users as the experts and the source of understanding:

- makes the designer the student; questions are expected, then, from the designer

- designers are tempted to less interpretation given their status as students of the user

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Partnership -- Shared Control

Detecting the difference between dialogue and interrogation (free flow vs. start, stop, wait for the next question from the designer).

Open ended questions, recognizing the user’s expert status, communicate shared control to the user.

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Partnership -- Reflect and Engage

The designer engages the user in a conversational, stream of consciousness discussion.

The designer then reflects upon what has been shared, integrating it into the evolving understanding of the task.

This process is repeated, allowing both partners to steer the conversation.

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Partnership -- The Principle

By assuming the roles of expert in the respective areas of task performance (User) and computer system design (Designer) who partner to jointly create a new design, we optimize the quality and quantity of shared information about the new design’s requirements.

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Arranging the Visit

Identifying Customers

- the business or industry sector we expect to buy our products

- the individuals that will interact with our system

Marketing earns its keep by getting the team

in to visit an important customer

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Preparing the Framework

Once a customer contact is established, we prepare our visit objectives and schedule before we call our contact.

We prepare for the visit in all respects, including necessary hardware (video equipment, etc.).

We are considerate of the customer’s business needs.

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Conducting the Interview

Focus -- select people who:

- use the system directly (users)

- manage the users

- receive the system’s products (recipients)

- test the system and interface with management with the results/ make purchasing decisions

- use a competitive (similar) system

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Focus -- large work domains require segmentation of the interview team and process:

- breakdown the organization’s work domain into ‘chunks’ and perform several sequential visits as necessary

- identify key people for each visit segment

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Focus -- focus keeps us ‘on track’ with who we interview, keeping costs down and speeding the process while minimizing the impact to the customer’s organization.

Subsequent visits -- focus directs the decision of whom we will interview at the next visit

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Multiple Interviewers are beneficial:

- different perspectives (engineering, documentation, service, training) combine to present a complete picture to the team

- team integration of data naturally includes information gained from the interfaces with the other perspectives.

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Setting the Focus Before the Interviews

Discussing about the focus for this visit.

Discussing about what aspects of the work will be probed.

Entering assumptions and focus

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Setting the Focus before the Interviews

Making notes on key areas.

Clarifying its purpose.

Discussing these notes with the user to focus on the conversation.

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Structure of a Contextual Interview

A typical Contextual Interview:– Introduction: Establishing a relationship

– Ongoing work inquiry

– The wrap-up

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Introduction: Establishing a Relationship

Introducing oneself to users.

Assuring them for the confidential.

Asking for the permission to record the interview.

Informing them the purpose of this visit.

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Introduction: Establishing a Relationship

Informing how long it will take. Asking them to give the overview of their

works. Discussing what specific work they are doing

during the visit. Asking for the opinion about the tools they are

using.

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Ongoing Work Inquiry

Goals:– To articulate a coherent understanding of

the users’ work process.– To uncover the needs for the work– To uncover what supports or hinders the

work.– To build a shared understanding of users’

work.

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Asking Questions and sharing ideas as users work.

Watching them in silence.

Sharing our interpretations and design ideas.

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Suggesting a break or end a session as needed.

Ensuing that users are equally involved in the partnership.

Letting users lead the discussion by keeping the questions open-ended.

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Redirecting the conversation as needed.

Asking about workarounds.

Bringing out assumptions that we have when users refer to that area.

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The Wrap-Up

Summarizing what we learned by referring to our notes.

Discussing any questions that might occur during the interview.

Validating or invalidating our assumptions.

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The Wrap-Up

Giving some tips about the software.

Asking them if we can contact them later for further questions.

Inviting them to contact us if they think of something after we leave.

Thanking them for their times.

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Variations in the Use of Contextual Inquiry

Collecting information about work and system use from people as they work.

Maximizing the information.

Spending 2-3 hours.

Using the principles of context to design alternative information collection schemes.

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Analyzing Contextual Inquiry Information

Interpretative process.

Results in a shared understanding of users’ work and system use.

Build an understanding of user and organizational work practices, a system vision, and specific design ideas.

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Analysis taking place both during and after the interviews.

Integrate multiple perspectives.

Create a shared vision of the system and a shared focus for subsequent interviews.

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Consist of 5 parts:

– Transcribing the Interview– Fixing and Evolving the Focus of Analysis– Interpreting the Information– Recording Understanding– Structuring the Understanding

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Transcribing the Interview

It is important to transcript notes and tapes while the interview is still fresh in memory.

Reviewing the interview helps us refocus for the next set of interviews.

We may include comments, insights, or questions that arise.

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Fixing and Evolving the Focus of Analysis

It is important to clarify our focus before beginning analysis.

“What is our purpose of design concern?”

Our focus directs what we include and exclude.

Some brought up questions might be useful.

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Interpreting the Information

Bringing the focus to the information guides our interpretation.

Changing the focus, different aspects are revealed.

Discussing about users’ work and the system.

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Using and reusing the user’s language.

Moving back and forth between the specific instance being examined and the whole session.

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The reusable knowledge provides us with a framework:– Work structure or work flow– Problems accomplishing the work– Problems in system use– Disruptions caused by the system– Workarounds that are used to avoid disruption from the

system– Transparency of the system– Aspects of work process and system use that support work

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Recording Understanding

As we interpret the text, we record our understandings.

Using the a coding scheme.

Using the Post-it or note cards.

Reviewing each conducted interview one at a time.

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Recording Understandings

What we record:– A description of users’ work– The flow or structure of the work– A description of problems in their work– A description of problems with the computer tools– Design ideas that emerge from our understanding of

their work– Questions for subsequent interviews

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Structuring the Understanding

Working effectively with large amount of information requires some structuring.

Using a technique to support inductive thinking.

Dividing all Post-its among team members.

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Structuring the Understanding

Grouping them conceptually.

Continuing grouping them until stable.

Reviewing each group and assigning the name.

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Using Contextual Inquiry Throughout the System Development Cycle

Each phase of development has key questions and tasks to which engineering teams must respond.

The first phase development question:– “What should we build?”– Determine a product strategy and product

requirement.

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– What is the user’s work?– What tools are currently used?– What works well and why?– What are the problems that we can address

with our technology?

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The second phase of development:– Focused on project planning and preliminary

design.– Used contextual inquiry with paper

prototyping to define the system work model.– Used Metaphor Workshops, scenario

building, and user participation in design meetings.

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The third phase of development:– Include design and coding of the

implementation.

– Used contextual inquiry to codesign the system work model and user interface with users.

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The forth phase of development:– Involving external field test of the system.

– Conducting contextual inquiry sessions with users in their environment while they are using the system for their work.

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Throughout the development cycle, user collaboration and system design are part of an ongoing, iterative process.

The results of the inquiries are incorporated into the design of the system.

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