Task Analysis and Contexual Inquiry I
From IEOR 170 Spring 2007
Individual Project Proposal assignment released, due 5:00PM 2/14/2007.
Required Readings
- Principles of Contextual Inquiry Contextual Design. Chap 3. Beyer & Holtzblatt.
- Some Techniques for Observing Users Kathleen Gomoll, The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design
Discussions
Please post your critiques/commments on the required readings below. To do that, first login by using your user name and password, then click the "edit" tab on the top part of this page (between the "discussion" page and the "history" page), New to wikis? Read the Wiki editing guide. . Hint - Please put a whole line == ~~~~ == at the beginning of your submitted critique, so the wiki system will index, sign and date your submission automatically.
[edit] Hong How Quek 13:45, 2 February 2007 (PST)
Principles of Contextual Inquiry
The article starts off by introducing the master/apprenticeship model in which the interview recognizes that the customer is the expert, and places huge importance on humility, inquisitiveness and attention to detail. What follows is a description of the contextual inquiry process that elaborates on its four principles: context, summary v.s. ongoing experience, abstract v.s. concrete and partnership.
I found the article to be very helpful because there were many instances when I had to conduct customer surveys/interviews be it for a class project or at work (product development), and we naturally assume interviewing to be such a basic and easy task (how tough can it be to ask a set of questions?)that we do not think we need to find out more about it. Many companies also do not include interviewing skills in their training programs. One important skill I picked up from the article was the ability to differentiate between what is a summary and what is an ongoing experience. It is human tendency to gloss over details one consider to be extraneous (since delving deeper requires one to put in more time and energy), but what is irrelevant to the customer may be just what the interviewer is looking for. Hence, it becomes very important for the interviewer to listen for steps that probably happened but the customer instinctively skipped, and back the customer up to find out what exactly occurred during those missing steps. Only then can he get a complete picture of a process from beginning to end, and make a more accurate evaluation.
Some Techniques for Observing Users
The article provides advice on the steps one should take note of when observing users in an experimental setting. Many of the steps reminded me of how UC Berkeley’s Experimental Lab (XLab) sessions were conducted. I think it is especially important to conclude the observation by explaining the objectives and what things you were looking out for, because once the background of the experiment is revealed, the user can provide additional information on why they chose to act in a certain way (say, because they had preconceived notions of what the experiment was trying to achieve but was in fact wrong) that can be very enlightening. Sometimes this may even be crucial to reverse a potentially erroneous finding. Also, it may be useful for the users of a system to have an internal discussion session to talk about what they felt about the experiment with little prompting by the interviewer, so that more novel ideas can be thrown up.
[edit] Brian Loo 19:58, 2 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry” This article discusses the importance and techniques of observation and interviewing your customer in their work setting. Observation is well needed as it ties the creators and designers back to the roots of their product, the users. Through observation, designers can observe the interaction users have with their surrounds to make proper judgments in designing. Interviewing properly is important as well as it provides important feedback especially after a proper relationship is formed as the reading discussed. The one part of the article I thought was interesting was the “Abstract vs. Concrete Data.” This section talked about how it important to get concrete data by keeping the interviewee on real examples and return them to their work. Doing so avoids the abstract and generalized data that is not as helpful. This section also highlighted key phrases that people use when they are providing concrete vs. abstract data. In addition, I like how it recommended admitting ignorance when you don’t know the technical explanation to expand your focus. This was interesting as it really does remove you from the expert role, which could be beneficial in creating a relationship as well. Also their explanation and understanding of the technical side may be very crucial in designing as it gives the perception and point of view of a product/procedure.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
This article discusses ten steps on how to observe users using a product and that observation is key to designing. All ten steps are important to the observation of the product. The most important one I thought was the third step, which was letting the users know they can quit whenever. This is crucial because if they are feeling stressed or uncomfortable they will provide skewed data that may not be helpful at all but harmful in designing. The only thing I would change would be adding an additional step of performing the same observation tasks except in the user natural setting where they can be distracted and multi task. This seems like an important addition as in the real world, people multi task or get distract and designing a product that can function in a person life in this manner would be very beneficial for users.
[edit] Richard Chen 10:55, 3 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry”
Because the job of a good designer is to always keep the user’s experience in the back of his mind, what better way to do that than to actually experience what the user is going through? That was the basic premise surrounding this article—that to truly experience and understand something, one should see it first-hand. A good Chinese saying that relates to this idea says something to the effect that asking a hundred times is not as good as seeing it once. The designer is then able to incorporate their findings and feedback from users into their next round of designs, and thereby improving the effectiveness of their products. Furthermore, this article also pointed out that it’s hard for people to remember the exact details of each action, thus its always much better to go on the field and observe, in person, what is exactly going on. A lot of biologists and scientists, when trying to research something in depth, rely extensively and intensively on field studies to provide them with the majority of the data for their analysis. Another compelling message of this article is that in order to really understand customers’ habits, it’s important to catch them in the act, and be able to observe and question the particular choices that they made. That form of inquiry is not only the most direct, but also the most powerful and effective. Thus, it’s important to have the perfect balance between observation and inquiry. For example, on my first job, the majority of learning took place on the spot, and I remember that I constantly had to ask questions in order to learn—just like what the article suggested.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
The basic framework that this article suggests is extremely useful for maximizing the effectiveness of any interview where important data is being collected for analysis. While each step is integral to the overall purpose, I also believe that flexibility in the interview process is important as well. The steps that have been outlined also hint at this notion of flexibility, as it is indeed hard to predict the exact course of the interview. As was mentioned in the previous article, if the individual steps that were outlined are too hard to follow, it’s helpful to back up a couple steps and think about the overarching purpose and attitude that serves as the basic guiding principle. I think this idea to have a rough roadmap—as opposed to an exact map—is important for interactions such as these, where the designer is dependent upon the user for providing crucial information.
[edit] Bryan Boling 11:49, 3 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry”
This article gave a very detailed description of good interviewing practices, and presented interesting ideas regarding the apprentice model in an interview. It seems reasonable that by allowing the customer to control the interview there is a greater chance that the interviewer will get the data they need for the design process. By not being stuck to a list of questions the interviewer allows the customer to relate the important aspects of any task without being drawn off task. Also, by acting in an apprentice relationship with the customer, the interviewer doesn’t intimidate the customer with his expert knowledge. Ultimately, I think the article provided a very well defined guideline for constructing and maintaining the craftsman-apprentice relationship during an interview, and gave many good examples of how to stay on task, as well as what to look for if you get off task.
“Observing Users”
This article was a very straight-forward guideline for gathering data using customers to test prototypes. It was written in a list format, which made it seem a lot like a recipe, and could obviously be used as a quick reference for a new expert trying to gather data about a product he’s designing. Although the article was very succinct and provided different, however equally beneficial, ideas from the first article, it didn’t provide much example, and it provided no examples of common things that could go wrong while observing users. The first article was more useful in this sense, but this article did efficiently purvey common practices in gathering user data for the design process.
[edit] Andrew prasetyo 12:57, 3 February 2007 (PST)
“Principle of Contextual Inquiry”
This article teaches us how to gather data from the users by interviewing the customer. Many things should be considered when an interviewer gathers data from customers. An interviewer should also guide the customer to elaborate their routine activity, maintain the focus of interview, and create a supporting environment in order to obtain sufficient data. It is interesting that the author uses different analogies to express different relationship models between the interviewer and the customer. I like the different analogies used to describe the approach that should be avoid when conducting an interview. It is also interesting to note how important this data gathering in the design process because misinterpretation of user activity and response may create a flaw in the final design.
“Observing Users”
This article is very short yet concise. This article provides us with step-by-step guidance of data gathering. Though the purpose of research is the same, i.e. observing the user, the author gives different approach from the other article to accomplish this goal. Instead of conducting interview with the user and observing user routine activity, the author prefers observing user in a controlled environment. This approach is very similar to a focus group, and I think it is very effective. Using this observation method, the researchers can gain other insights that they might not think of by observing the user without interfering. This method is also not “invasive” because instead of following the user throughout his/her daily activity, the researcher conducts the research in a controlled environment, and I believe the research will not take longer than the method elaborated in the other article.
[edit] Onyi Lam 13:41, 3 February 2007 (PST)
“Principle of Contextual Inquiry”
This article notes that the master/apprenticeship model is a good starting point to conduct an interview. It further explores different techniques and approaches that interviewers should adapt when gathering data from interviewees. It includes the four principles of contextual inquiry, which the author stresses the following points: interviewers should define the work structure to make deatils possible, differntiate concrete and abstract data to pull out the relevant details and to expand the focus of the interview through physical expressions - like nodding. In general, this article explores the dynamics between the interviews and interviewees and I found this article interesting because it talks about a lot of interactions in the interviews that I am not usually beware of.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
I think this article is very concise and effective in providing some guidance to the researchers when observing users in an experimental setting. In a general sense, reseachers should always let the users know what is the purpose of the experiment and let me know that they can quit anytime in the experiment to ease their uneasiness when being observed. It is also important to let the participants know the results after the experiment and answer any questions they still have. The researchers should also make sure that they are not demonstrating any features in the product that they are trying to evaluate. It maybe more helpful to conceptualize the author's ideas if we are given a real-life example to carry through when the author explains the different guidelines.
[edit] Asmita Karandikar 16:57, 3 February 2007 (PST)
Beyer and Holtzblatt’s “Principles of Contextual Inquiry” explores concepts that are important to keep in mind when interviewing customers. The concept of contextual inquiry, observing and speaking with the customer in order to find out more about them, has four basic traits - context, partnership, interpretation, and focus. The reading goes on to describe each trait, and why it is needed. The idea that I found most interesting was the one on context - you should watch the customer doing things instead of just listening to them speak about what they’re doing, because you’ll get more specific details and not just a summary. I think this is really important because it is always better to get and observe first-hand knowledge, instead of second-hand information that you would get if you had the customer tell you what they did. I’ve noticed myself that I generally have a better understanding of what is going on if I observe it myself and ask questions, rather than just listening to somebody speak. I also liked the section on interpretation, especially the part relating to customers’ responses when they are trying to say “no.” I enjoyed reading it because I’ve often been in situations when I’ve heard those phrases being used, or have used them myself. Overall, I think this was a good and informative reading that gave a thorough guideline on how to conduct interviews with customers.
I enjoyed reading “Some Techniques for Observing Users” by Kathleen Gomoll. This reading discusses steps that the designer should take when observing users during interface design. I appreciated the article because it was well organized and easy to understand. The observation process was broken up into ten important steps, and I like that the author describes each one, and gives examples of what to say during some of the steps. I think that the most important step is number 5, explaining how to “think aloud,” because it’s really important to know what the user is thinking while using the product so you will get good feedback on what the user likes and dislikes about the design. Overall, I think the article will be really helpful to re-read if I ever need to observe users when they are testing interfaces during design.
[edit] Christine Shih 02:45, 4 February 2007 (PST)
Principles of Contextual Inquiry
This chapter talks about how to observe and talk to a customer about his/her work. The author's likens the relationship between the interviewer and customer to master (customer) and apprentice (interviewer) relationship. This chapter also explains the 4 Principles of Contextual Inquiry: context, partnership, interpretation, and focus. The whole process of interviewing a customer and extracting the relevant data seemsreally complex because customers don't always explain things coherently or remember what they are doing until they do it. And then extracting the main points from their jarbled explanations is also another skill. The interviewer has to make sure to avoid certainrelationship models that will prevent him/her from getting data. They need to read the customer well and not sway the results by their own opinions. The whole process seems tiring and stressful. It made me think of the CIA.
Some Techniques for Observing Users
This article is basically what the title is. Users need to be involved in interface design, but how do you observe users? This articlegoes through 10 different steps outlining the observation process basically designed to get the users feeling comfortable andarticulating their thought process as they "test" designs. Apparently, observing users early on will help designers catch problems early in the prototype stage.
[edit] Nicolas Suryono 11:32, 4 February 2007 (PST)
"Principles of Contextual Inquiry"
This readings talks about numerous ways to gather data from the customer. One of the method that the author suggest is using the interview method to gather the data from the customer. However, in order to be successful, the author stated that the customer must be in control of the interviewer, not the designer. Second, the relationship between the designer and the customer must be an apprentice-master relationship during the interview. I think the author has a point in the preceding statements. First, by letting the customer in control of the interview, we do not intimidate the customer by asking a lot of technical question that the customer might not know and by making the relationship an apprentice-master type of relationship, we can gather more data from the customer.
"Some Techniques for Observing Users"
This is a short and important article that really reflects the title. I think this articles has a lot to do with the first article because this articles explain some ways to observe user during the observation process. I really like the 10 step observation method that the author describes in his article. The 10 step method is a very useful method to visit and apply during prototyping and testing of a design.
[edit] Erin Palermo 13:52, 4 February 2007 (PST)
"Contextual Inquiry" This article presented different methods of observing a customer at work, so that you may better understand the way that they operate. In order to design a great product, it is helpful to know how the customer interacts with objects they currently use for their job, and how you may improve on this interaction. The Master/Apprentice model was especially interesting because when you observe a customer as an apprentice to their position, trying to take in a thorough understanding of their work, they can easily explain all details of what they do and how they do it. When you are in a different setting, it is difficult to recall what little details assist them in their work, but when they are surrounded by them in their 'natural environment,' it gives the designer better information. The most important information from the article was the idea that going to where a customer actually works is vital. Gathering information in context can help a designer to understand the customer better, and thus better serve them. I also liked the emphasis on how a designer must be an interviewer AND a watcher. Striking that balance may prove difficult, but it is important to be able to watch the customer, and also be fully immersed in their work at points.
"Some Techniques for Observing Users" This article was great! I had participated in a study last semester for my friend's class, and she had me test a website. She seemed to follow all of these steps exactly! I was given notecards with tasks written on them, I was videotaped, and she sat silently observing. I got to test the website with a friend, so we had to think aloud and also explain things to each other. At one point, we got frustrated because we couldn't easily complete the task, and it was much easier to be frustrated when you had someone else there who couldn't do it either. It made me feel less awkward and stupid. I think that she got a great deal of information out of our participation, but she designed a great study!
[edit] Monica Tanza 13:54, 4 February 2007 (PST)
“Contextual Inquiry”
This article defined and set out important principles of contextual inquiry. I felt that a big portion of this article was self explanatory and not very profound. It was interesting that your interpretation becomes the most important part of the inquiry and I was glad that the article mentioned the correct way to go about with your interpretation to make sure it is correct (having a misleading interpretation will lead to your design being irrelevant). I also found the point about the difference between prototyping and contextual inquiry to be interesting. When having a customer interact with a prototype, they only have the ability to make small changes in the design, whereas contextual inquiry gives the customer a bigger and more central role in the design process.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
Compared to the previous article, this one seemed a bit less useful. For one thing, it seems to be explaining how to observer users of prototyped products, thereby making it a less effective method. Also, it provided a pretty strict checklist, which the previous article mentioned as a flaw since it makes the observer focus too much on following procedure rather than observing. The last major flaw I saw with this article was the step on observing. One thing it did not suggest that the other article did (and I felt was important) was interrupting during the process to ask questions and evaluate interpretations. Overall, this method seems less effective and less user friendly in evaluating designs.
[edit] Anar Joshi 14:13, 4 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry”: This article discusses ways for a design team to effectively interact with consumers in order to gather useful information when creating or changing a product. The author suggested that a good model to follow when conducting field research is the apprenticeship model. However, since the apprenticeship model is ideal for someone trying to learn one single job, the model has to be modified to meet the needs of a design team who are required to learn several jobs at once. According to the author, the model needs to be adjusted to fit the “four principles of contextual inquiry”, which include: context, partnership, interpretation, and focus. Understanding the context of the customer’s work experience helps to outline a work structure for the customer, that, many times, they are unaware. Together with partnership, context can also find patterns and distinctions in the way people organize their thoughts. If designers ask the right questions while learning from their customers, they can reveal many nuances that sometimes may be overlooked. The other quality emphasized by the author is the interpretation of the facts that the customer states. This is essential because facts make more sense to you once they are put into perspective. Finally, when beginning research it is important to have a focus, and it is equally important to be open to challenge the initial focus that you started with. With these modifications, engaging in contextual inquiry will prove to be beneficial to both the design team and the customer.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”: This article outlines the best practices used to observe users in order to extract ways to improve the current product. I found that the emphasis that the author placed on ensuring that the user is comfortable was very interesting. For example, when you are first explaining the objective of the observation to the user group, the author stresses that the group know that it is not them being tested, but the product that is being tested. She says that this is an important clarification in order to put the users at ease, and not make them nervous about not knowing something. Overall, this article was able to convey its message about the value in testing your product with a user group and how to do so successfully.
[edit] Esha Datta 16:34, 4 February 2007 (PST)
"Principles of Contextual Inquiry"
I think this article showed how contextual inquiry can be a very powerful tool and how with the correct techniques, it can be much more effective than a simple interview. The advantage of contextual inquiry lies in being able to observe and talk about the details. I know from my own experience, that in interviews people often give very brief answers and talk in abstract general terms. I also thought the discussion about using the master and apprentice relationship was extremely interesting. It's a good way to think about it and I think that often it's a fine line since you need to remember that the user is the expert for the particular task while you are also trying to guide the conversation to find the most useful information for design. I also thought the point about focus was very important. Sometimes when a group of people are observing together and do not establish a protocol (or establish a very vague protocol) or do not state their goal for what they are looking for, it is more difficult to recognize patterns and work structures afterward.
"Some Techniques fro Observing Users"
This article provided some basic guidelines for observing users. I think that actually determining a set list of tasks is very helpful. From my experience, if these tasks have the correct focus and are not too specific you can find unexpected and surprising ways that users attempt to complete the tasks. I thought the point that users should be involved in the entire design process, including brainstorming, prototyping, building, and evaluation, was also very interesting. I believe that it is very important to involve users at all steps, but I also believe that it is important to remember that there should be a joint partnership and that ultimately the designer has the experience to make certain key decisions regarding the actual creation of the product.
[edit] Jason Hu 16:59, 4 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry"
I found this to be perhaps the most interesting reading of this course so far. It gives an in-depth description of various designer/customer relationship models (such as master/apprentice, partnership, etc…) as well as the pros and cons of each relationship. The distinctions between summary and ongoing experience, as well as abstract and concrete data, are easily overlooked but truly are vital to the search for a meaningful context out of which to interpret observations and apply deign principles.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
This is another in a series of articles whose advice is seemingly a no-brainer, but where the practice of that advice is more nuanced than I would have imagined. In this case, the article extols to need to observe users, and illustrates this with a simple ten-step procedure. I was surprised at how many steps were simply aimed at making users feel comfortable and aware of the user observation process itself (before the observations can even begin). It’s sort of like how medical researchers must inform human subjects of all factors without revealing so much that it would bias them. I appreciated that this article provided specific things to say in order to disarmingly achieve those ends.
[edit] Patrick Liu 18:35, 4 February 2007 (PST)
"Principles of Contextual Inquiry"
Seemingly the best approach to contextual inquiry is the master/apprentice model. Where the interviewer is the apprentice and we assume the user is the master of using the product. When the customers are asked to describe what they do at work, it is generally easier for them to explain in detail as they are working on it. Because it seems like off the top of their head if they would have to explain what they do on a daily basis it would be more difficult. “Contextual Inquiry seeks to provide rich detail about customers by taking team members into the field.” The interviewer is sent into the customers field and as the apprentice, is supposed to come up with an understanding of how to support the customers work without a formal description of “how they work or what they need.” There are four principles of contextual inquiry and they include: context, partnership, interpretation, and focus. Context is the idea that the interviewer should be as close to the ideal situation of the customer. (“ongoing experience vs summary experience; concrete data vs abstract data) Partnership is to try to make everyone understand the customer’s work. Interpretation is finding out what the meaning of the work the interviewer studied and how is it relevant. “Interpretation is the chain of reasoning that turns a fact into an action relevant to the designer’s intent.” The point of view the interviewer takes whiles studying the customer’s work is defined as focus. After the contextual inquiry process, the interviewer must go back and wrap up all the observations made.
"Some Techniques for Observing Users"
It makes sense to me to involve users in interface design. To get the most relevant and useful data with producing an effective product the users should always be involved in the process of design. With setting up the observation, it is obvious that the designer should invite users that are closest to users that will be using the actual product. For example, the designer would not invite 5 year olds if they were designing an interface for a new internet web browser. The next few steps are sort of a big step put into one. Describing the purpose of the observation, allowing the user to quit anytime, demonstrating the equipment, and thinking aloud are all instructions for the observation. Having the user to think aloud is what the designer mostly wishes to accomplish, because the designer wants to know when the user has problems with the interface. Before beginning, the designer should ask if the user has any questions, and when the observation is complete the designer uses the relevant data to improve the interface design.
[edit] Siu Pan Lam 19:50, 4 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry”
This chapter focuses on the analysis of design processes by introducing contextual design, which builds on natural human behavior. Specifically, this chapter argues that the most effective way of creating a successful design is through observations of and communications with the customers while they are at work. It also discusses the four guiding principles in the master/apprentice model (context, partnership, interpretation, and focus) that can be used to describe the interaction between a designer and a customer. This model emphasizes that the best way to learn is by working. I agree with this argument because there are numerous tasks that can only be mastered by actually doing the work. For example, let’s say that you are given lectures on how to debug programs. You can learn the various techniques and strategies employed in troubleshooting by sitting in the lectures, but it is through both observations and actual practices of how to go about performing this task that you will be able to acquire proficiency and mastery of those techniques. In addition, through actual practices, you can be exposed to greater details of the task. This will allow you to have a better understanding of the task and develop your own methods that are needed to do the task well.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
The focus of this article is on the importance of users’ involvement in interface design. By observing the users, the designer can learn a great deal about how the users interact with the design and be able to catch problems in the design as early as the prototyping stage. In fact, the steps involved in setting up the observation are listed and explained in detail, provided with clear examples of how to go about each particular step. One of the steps asks the users to think aloud as they do their work. I find this an ineffective way of gathering information because if I were the user, I would definitely feel awkward and perhaps might be distracted from doing work with the product. I think that it is better for the users to go about their usual way of interacting with a product, without asking them to do something out of the usual. At the end of the observation, a lot of information can still be obtained by asking the users of their overall impression.
[edit] Timothy Manglicmot 19:51, 4 February 2007 (PST)
[edit] Principles of Contextual Inquiry
This article presents interesting ideas on how to gather information from users through the interview. I especially thought the master/apprenticeship model to be fascinating because the fact that the customer is the expert is right on with my opinion. Although the designer is the expert in the design of the product, as far as using the product goes, it is indefinitely the customer who is the expert. Moreover, the customer is the person who will provide revenue for the design, so it is only natural to view the customer as the expert. As far as interviewing, though, I never really put much thought into the detail that should go into it. At my job I constantly interview people and it has become such a mundane task that I only look for a few key factors; however, the level of detail and the subtle hints the article talks about when interviewing a customer is a key lesson I will take away in the interview situation.
[edit] Some Techniques for Observing Users
The article about techniques for observing users is a valuable asset in coming up with a design. In the end, it’s the user’s decision whether or not he or she likes the product, so having the user involved in every phase of the design is an obvious decision. Also, I like how the techniques described in the article try and make the users test the product in a situation which most closely matches the intended environment for the product; this allows the designer to see the user interaction in an actual, real life setting which, I think, will give the best results. Additionally, rather than viewing the testing situation as a the designer observing the users themselves, it is a good idea to emphasize that the designer is actually observing the way the user interacts with the design to eliminate any unnatural actions from observation. Often times when I am doing experiment and I know I am being observed, I will almost always act differently than if I was alone, so by emphasizing natural, relaxed settings the designer can get the most out of his or her observations.
[edit] Shilpi Verma 19:56, 4 February 2007 (PST)
Principles of Contextual Inquiry: This article puts a lot of emphasis on the aspect of interviewing customers. There are four basic traits of the contextual inquiry: context, partnership, interpretation, and focus. Each of these principles defines aspects of interaction. The principle of context talks about “going where the work is to get the best data.” This helps gather concrete rather than abstract data, and allows for an ongoing experience rather than a summary experience. Partnership is to “help customers articulate their work experience.” The goal of partnership is pretty straightforward, in that we want to be able to understand the customers work because they are the ones that know everything about the work they are doing. Interpretation is to “determine what customer words and actions mean together.” I really like how the author illustrated that good products are based on facts and that designs are built on the interpretation of facts. At the end of it all, customers are the ones that fine tune interpretations. Focus defines the point of view that is taken while an interviewer is studying work. The interviewer needs to focus and have control over the conversation with the customer. I thought it was interesting that focus is unavoidable. Overall, this article was really long but it was informative because it gave a good guideline on how to interview customers.
Some Techniques for Observing Users: This article was very concise and to the point in educating the people on how to observe users who are testing the design of a product. The article is useful because it lays out clear cut steps to follow in order to properly conduct a user observation. The ten steps are very easy to understand, and allow a person to flawlessly observe a user while testing their product. Of all the potentially mistakes I thought it was particularly interesting that a person can accidentally give away the specific feature or aspect that is being tested if they are not careful while demonstrating their product. It was really helpful for the author to write down examples of what a person can say to the user in order to make them feel comfortable and in order to make sure they are aware of everything. Overall I think the article is was really easy to read and provides useful information.
[edit] Rabia Siddiqi 20:00, 4 February 2007 (PST)
Principles of Contextual Inquiry
This article discusses the possible procedures that designers can use in order to gain an understanding of their customers and the work that they do. A commonly use relationship model is the Master/Apprentice model in which the the designer observes the customer while he is working, much like an apprentice observes a master craftsman. I think this is a good model to use because while the customer is actually performing the task, it is easy for him to explain his steps to the designer and for the designer to fully grasp the details. Four principles are used to guide the contexual inquiry - context, partnership, interpretation and focus. Context involves being in the setting of the customer's workplace and watching the work unfold. In parnership, a collaboration with the customer in which the conversation is casual rather than like an interview or a formal meeting. Interpretation is the designer's task of figuring out the implications of his observations. Finally, focus involves the designer making sure that the topics discussed are useful without taking too much control away from the customer. Overall, this article is well-written and provides a very clear and logical approach for contextual inquiry.
Some Techniques for Observing Users
It seems intuitive that "users should be involved in interface design," but it is still an essential part of design that must be conciously considered. In order to understand what type of questions users are likely to ask, the best way is to observe them and allow them to ask those questions. More can be discovered this way than by predication and time can be saved. The article outlines ten steps that are useful in conducting a user observation. Most of these were geared towards making the user feel comfortable about using the interface and asking questions about it. Although the method was simple, I believe it can be very effective in gaining insight into what are some problems and confusing aspects of the interface at hand. I enjoyed this article because it was clear and concise.
[edit] Connie Ko 22:29, 4 February 2007 (PST)
Principles of Contextual Inquiry:
I thought this article had a lot of good points in terms of contextual inquiry. The master-apprentice interviewing strategy definitely seems like it would be a valuable and effective approach. The concepts of context, partnership, interpretation, and focus are definitely valid. The only thing I didn't really like about the article was that the points seemed very apparent early on in the reading, so it felt a little repetitive and boring reading through all the text. Plus, there were a few strategies that overlapped between concepts, so it made it seem even more redundant. For example, under the section "partnership" it says to encourage an interviewer to bring up design ideas as they come along, this will help verify whether it is a good idea or not. In the next section, "interpretation", they talk about pretty much the same thing, expressing their design ideas to make sure they interpreted their customer's needs correctly.
Some Techniques for Observing Users:
This article was rather useful in describing a good technique on how to observe users to help improve or create a new design. I liked how it was listed out step by step. It was also to the point but provided examples when needed. Most of the material in the article can be common sense, but it is good that it was structured into words.
[edit] Christopher Ling 22:52, 4 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry”
This article discussed a strategy to interviewing, called contextual inquiry, which has a basis in interpreting the human ways of interacting. In describing contextual design, the five important attributes of context, abstraction, partnership, interpretation, and focus come into mind. Each method described a significant trait that interviewers could use to observe and understand information from their customer, whether the customer was an accountant or a grocery shopper. Throughout the article, I liked how the author compared and contrasted the apprenticeship model. Overall, I took a couple of important points from this reading. First, I realized that this interviewing strategy could be applied to many relevant academic situations, such as with group projects involving external clients. It would then be possible to learn to uncover more details. I see how it is extremely important to work on building a relationship, or partnership, with your customer in order to gain a better sense of how to interpret and focus on the more important issues.
“Some Techniques of Observing Users”
This article provides distinct step to qualitatively measure the usability of a product. Certain steps, such as providing a list of procedures for the user to complete, allows the user to learn about the product and allow the client to witness any problems the user may have in order to improve the product. Although this may be effective for the client, I felt this might be a constraint on the customer since he or she if forced to follow directions. I think different users would approach the use of a product different than other users, depending on the complexity of the product. Although there is this apparent flaw, this method still provides the product group with key insights that could aid in improving the product.
[edit] Karey Park 22:57, 4 February 2007 (PST)
In "Principles of Contextual Inquiry," the author presents the fundamental techniques to the practice of contextual inquiry; that is, trying to understand how a customer accomplishes his or her work. Though a little bit long, this chapter was not bad, since it was concise in what it said. The author got to the point very quickly with each of the four principles, while still going into detail for each one. The overarching principle implied in these four points is the importance of developing a strong relationship with the customer, with a strong base of trust, to the extent that which it is possible. It is then that much can be learned. Having confidentiality, getting used to each other as people, and partnering all work together to create an environment of apprenticeship, one where a solid and informative interview is conducted.
"Some Techniques for Observing Users" is a very informal yet still a very informative article on involving users in an interface design. Written in an outline form, it is a very real-time article, chronologically presented to make this very important technique a little bit less intimidating. The author holds the reader's hand, so to speak, walking him or her through the process step-by-step. The article presented a simple technique in a simple way, without complicating it, which made for a pretty easy and informative read.
[edit] Rey Doctora 23:00, 4 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry” This reading emphasizes the needed steps and techniques used to observe and interview individuals in their work stations. The reading stresses the basic concept of “put yourself in their shoes” when designing something for a customer and interviewing them is a great way to gather useful information for product design. Observation is important because this allows the user to gather useful data while feedback is similarly important to enable the designer to improve upon what has already been designed. I particularly agree with the section on the relationship between designer and customer. Keeping a partnership rather than an interviewer/interviewee, expert/novice, or guest/host relationship ensures proper communication between a customer and a designer. This type of partnership helps facilitate correct interpretation of design protocols and thereby helps the client greatly.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
This article highlights ten steps to use when observing a user to better understand a product and user-friendliness of a product. I agree with all ten steps and particularly the second step (describing the purpose of the observation). I feel this is critical because users tend to get nervous when using a product under observation and this step helps alleviate their anxiety. Saying that the test is on the product rather than on the user is helpful because this shifts the focus of the user entirely to the product; he or she would not feel too nervous while being observed.
[edit] Rakesh Vij 00:25, 5 February 2007 (PST)
Principles of Contextual Inquiry: The basic idea behind this concept and consequently the reading is that observing and interviewing the end user will give the designer a better understanding. The reading then goes through a relationship model that should be applied to the inquiry process. The effective model to use is the master/apprentice model through which the customers are able to better explain their process and the inquirer best learns. Acting as an apprentice gives the interviewer the right state and attitude to conduct a good interview. The reading then goes into the four principles of contextual inquiry, which are: context, partnership, interpretation, and focus. These laid out rules explain how to go about a good inquiry. I really agree that contextual inquiry is a good way to design. It is very important that the designers have a good understanding of what the product is used for, and realistically the designers don't have time to go out and act as an apprentice for every product. So by laying out these rules and steps it makes it easy for the designers to go out there and interview effectively. The reading does a very thorough job of explaining what and what not to do during an interview. In fact, it closes up with interview structure and explains how to start, transition, and wrap-up interviews.
Some Techniques for Observing Users: This reading relates very well to the previous reading. The previous reading gave me a good idea and good model to follow when interviewing for a product. However, this reading went a step further and listed out the ten steps that should be followed when making an interview happen in real life. The steps where written by an Apple designer who describes how it helped them in the design of an online help page, and that in general user involvement should be done early and often. The paper then goes on to list the ten steps that should be taken during this observation process. All of these steps seem to be very logical, but having something in writing like this should come in handy when the actual observation is taking place. The steps are all very useful and helpful.
[edit] Urvashi 23:32, 4 February 2007 (PST)
"Principles Of Contexual Enquiry"
The author of this article started off explaining general concepts and then moved into more specific examples for illustration. This strikes me as an article on the study of the psychology of customers, and how the interviewers/product designers can exploit this to find out what features are critical to the day to day work of the customer. There is a lot of detail describing how exactly this information should be weaned out of the customer, as a certain skill set is required to optimally obtain the required facts. I feel the gist can be summed up in four points, that are, go to the workplace and watch the work happen in person, clear the mind of any assumptions and try to understand the work process with an entirely fresh perspective, interpret each action and understand why it was carried out and finally assimilate all the information to build the required picture. I felt the most important point highlighted was how the interviewer should step out of the role of the expert so that the customer can assume the role of the one who knows more and hence help the interviewer in his goal of exploring the thought process that goes into the work mechanism of the customer.
"Some Techniques For Observing Users"
This article is very similar to the one before that, the only difference is that the first one seems to be by a psychologist and the second one is by an employee at Apple. They both agree on the importance of observing customers use the product and noting down what features can be improved. When customers think aloud, it helps the experts see how potential customers will approach the product and it will help them tailor it to make it as foolproof to use as they possibly can. This article was a lot more concise and brought forward the point more rapidly. One noteworthy point in this article was on the importance of putting the people being tested at ease, as we don’t want to create an artificial environment where people are thinking unnecessarily harder than they normally would or are on their guard. It’s only then that the designers can follow how people would actually end up using the product in their own comfort zone.
[edit] Michael Lovejoy 23:52, 4 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry”
This reading was very good at giving real-life everyday examples to reinforce the ideas behind contextual inquiry. Bringing the ideas of the master-apprentice relationship to interviewing a customer and gathering data was very clever. I never thought of that relationship before, but it is an important temporary one. The relationship models were pretty important, since I see those types of relationships often. Turning the partnership into an interviewer/interviewee or expert/novice or guest/host relationship can inhibit the quality of information derived from this process. I’ve seen these pitfalls happen, but I was not consciously aware that it was subtly damaging the quality of information derived from the partnership. I especially liked the examples of how a customer will say ‘no.’ I’ve often answered questions with those responses, knowing that the real answer is a simple ‘no.’ I also found it interesting that it’s best to admit you don’t know something. I believe the easier way is to go back and research it, but I suppose admitting your ignorance has some beneficial aspects. This article was a very good overview of dealing with customers and provided very useful examples that can relate to many ideas beyond getting information from a customer.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
I thought many of the ideas in this article were pretty obvious to anyone who is trying to observe how users work with something. However, I hadn’t thought about stressing to the users that you are testing the product, not them. That step could easily be overlooked, and certainly changes how they use the product. It was good how the author also advocated being completely open with the user about what the experiment is about and exactly how everything works. Getting the user to think aloud is also an important part of any experiment that needs to be emphasized, but can easily be overlooked. Overall, this short article had a pretty good summary of how to observe users, and it mentioned some important ideas that should be considered when testing a product.
[edit] Raymond Kim 00:25, 5 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry”
I found this reading to be a more relaxed discussion of the methods of understanding the customer. As customers ourselves, we are often interviewed or surveyed in order to get our feedback, which usually proves to be an ineffective way of collecting data. Contextual inquiry on the other hand, emphasizes watching the customer and learning from the customer throughout their daily routine. It was interesting to learn how many of our actions are so routine that we become unconscious of them, arriving at our goals without really knowing how we got there. This is why it's so important to have open dialogue throughout the entire process in order to capture details that may have otherwise not been said. The process of contextual inquiry is also surprisingly simply. In order to observe a customer well, one only really needs to focus and ask many questions.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
Much of what was said in this article was quite similar to the previous one, except that the concepts were presented in a more structured, bulleted fashion. It did however, emphasize the key concept of "Thinking Aloud" and how customers should be encouraged to say what they are doing and for the interviewer to ask many questions. Another key point was the filtering of users according to the product and also aggregating all the data at the end in order to identify the main trends. Just like the previous article, the interviewer is also encouraged to present themselves as being non-threatening and to not criticize users of the product when the product is to blame.
[edit] Michael Toulouse 00:47, 5 February 2007 (PST)
Principles of Contextual Inquiry
This article seems to take a step back from showcasing design concepts by abstraction and instead goes into good detail about how to learn about your customer's needs in a product by directly learning from them. They call that and the process of interviewing them "contextual inquiry". It goes very much into detail about how to interact with the customer, to the point of interpreting specific actions and phrases. This may be good for most cases, but the amount of detail still makes me a bit skeptical. Still, the information given is very practical and immediately applicable, and very much appreciated.
Some Techniques for Observing Users
This article is by an Apple designer, and is similar to the previous one. However, it is even less abstract (and thus more useful), not bothering to even group the items into four principles, but instead laying out steps and examples. There are also some insights which serve to elaborate on the design interview process, like having two people so they'll talk more. It seems as if the steps are borne out of an intimate knowledge of the design process, more so than "Principles". It only covers the preparation and the actual interviewing, and not so much about interpretation of the results.
[edit] Ricky Surachman 01:33, 5 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry” This article provides some idea on how to start collecting the data from your users. I like how this article gives many details about what you should do. For example, when it suggested that a good starting point is to treat your relationship to a customer like an apprentice wants to learn from the master. I also agree with the article when it said that you have to gather concrete, not abstract, data. But the part that i agree most is about the focus. When we gather the data, it is often we lost track on what or why we want to gather information. Maintaining your focus will help you a lot to keep track on that you are doing.
"Some Techniques for Observing Users" This article is really straightfoward, explaining ten steps to observe the users when you were gathering data to test your product. Although this article is short, it really helped me because it gave me some insight what you have to do when your are testing your product and what you have to observe when your tester using your product. i also like how this article emphasize on not put any pressure to your tester, for example, "if anything goes wrong don't worry it's the product fault, not yours". I think this is going to be really helpful because the tester will tell your products' fault when you gather your data.
[edit] Tawan Udtamadilok 01:57, 5 February 2007 (PST)
"Principles of Contextual Inquiry"
This chapter pointed out the importance of understanding the dynamic between interviewer and interviewee. If the interview doesn’t have a clear focus, the designer will not be able to extract information about the user’s needs. The chapter gave specific examples about paying attention to the details in an interview in order to ask questions that will help the designer. The most useful tip that I took away from this chapter is that “it’s best to define the new rules for social interaction” at the beginning of the interview to avoid awkwardness.
I think that this chapter will come in extraordinarily handy in my research and in a project I have in another course. In addition, I would like to read the next chapter “Contextual Inquiry in Practice,” because I feel that it would provide a more concrete framework for a good interview.
"Some Techniques for Observing Users"
I enjoyed the fact that the techniques in this article have not scientifically proven to provide excellent results. Instead, the article provides recommendations based on the success that Apple has had with certain techniques of observing users. It mostly focuses on putting the user at-ease with the interview so that the interviewer can gather more accurate information.
[edit] Joshua Funamura 02:28, 5 February 2007 (PST)
Both articles complemented each other well, since they used similar principles of observation to arrive at two different sides of interface design. The first article, "Principles of Contextual Inquiry" focused more on ways of finding improvements for an existing system by talking with the expert customer, while "Some Techniques for Observing Users" seemed to focus more on giving the improved system back to the customer and having them test it out, where the designer is the 'expert' on the new system. Both articles stressed the importance of observing the user in front of the system, forming a good partnership where one participant doesn't have too much power over the other, and on-going feedback rather than getting a summary response. The problem that I then see with "Techniques", from "Principles", is that there isn't mention of a protocol where the observer/interviewer can ask questions and direct the conversation to concrete responses and fill in any skipped steps. For this reason, it seems like "Techniques" has a bit more uneven power distribution, which can lead to the user perhaps feeling intimidated and uncomfortable as purely an observed subject. I found the discussion about focus to be important, specifically the challenge of being strict with what you observe, and not fall into natural biases.
[edit] Michael Chen 12:28, 5 February 2007 (PST)
"Principles of Contextual Inquiry" This article discussed the concepts of contextual inquiry, a method from which to gather data from the end user about product design in order to improve or apply a new technology to the product. The chapter first describes the reason for performing contextual inquiry: to ensure that key details are not missed by providing an environment where pretty much everything is available to be examined. It then introduces the master/apprentice model of interaction, and then follows through to the 4 main principles of contextual inquiry. At the end, it has a short summary procedure for performing a contextual inquiry. I found the principles to be well though out and distinct. I disagree that there is a true difference between the master/apprentice model from the partnership model, but I can see why they made that distinction, and I do believe that the chapter is clearer than if there was no distinction. In particular, I liked how the author drew attention to the innate biases of any interviewer, and also the need for all data to fit into a particular interpretation.
"Some Techniques for Observing Users" This article was far more algorithmic, and offers a very detailed structure, organized chronologically, on how to obtain a good contextual inquiry. If the book chapter was a fiction novel, this short 3-page essay would be the Clif's Notes. It's most definitely something that I would give to actual practioner of a contextual inquiry, as it is, not surprisingly, based upon contextual inquiry itself. I especially like the suggestion that users work in pairs, as that was something that was not addressed at all in the book chapter.
[edit] Johannesleholm 13:03, 5 February 2007 (PST)
Principles of Contextual Inquiry
I thought this article was especially interesting because it did not just emphasize the importance of knowing the target customer, but explained exactly how to know the customer. The master/apprentice model explained that an effective interviewer will act as the interviewee’s apprentice in order to fully understand his/her point of view. This requires the interviewer to develop powerful listening skills and be able to establish a certain relationship with the interviewee that allows him to feel comfortable divulging unfiltered reactions to different products. The author explains that there are four principles of contextual inquiry: context, partnership, interpretation, and focus. The key is to set the test subject up as the expert and not to allow him to question himself or rethink answers. We can see the success of this technique by watching the Emmy-award winning interviewer Barbara Walters; for over three decades her superior interviewing ability has treated audiences to intimate glimpses inside the lives of the most publicized people of our time.
Some Techniques for Observing Users
Some say that Apple’s designers are angels sent from above by the almighty creator himself. While that may or may not be the case, the Apple designers that wrote this article do offer some exceptionally superb ideas. The 10 steps format at the end of the article also provides any would-be designer an excellent cheat sheet when conducting observation experiments. And the great thing about this article is that it really applies to everyday relationships. Creating an environment where the subject feels comfortable enough to “think aloud” is an essential strategy I employ with lady friends. That comfortable atmosphere generally requires dimmed lights, slow beats, witty repartee, and scented oils and typically exposes candid thoughts.
[edit] HAK-SEUNG KIM 13:50, 5 February 2007 (PST)
First article tells us what the principles of contextual inquiry are; simply, go to the customers and observe/ talk with them about the work. I think this is the simplest but most important thing for the design. We can’t think the design without a customer. Also, to be more specific, the author gives four principles of contextual inquiry: context, partnership, interpretation, and focus. We can use them to solve the problem that current designs have. The interesting thing that I have read is about partnership. We usually think partnership as a partnership between the businesses. However, the author suggests making a partnership with the customer. Partnership with our customer, I think it is really smart idea to make a better design.
Second article is about some techniques about observing users. Also, the author suggests ten steps for observing users. This technique of observing steps is very practical and detailed. For instance, “explain that you will not provide help” gives us very important idea that I might not lose the most valuable information you get gain from user observation – where users have trouble, and how they figure out what to do.
[edit] Umber Masood 14:00, 5 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry”
This reading was interesting. I found the explanations of the apprenticeship model and its modifications to be useful. This reading gave a good overview of what interviewers need to do. I thought the context principle of contextual inquiry was very important because watching work as it is being done gives a lot of insight to the viewer. I also thought the focus principle of contextual inquiry was very important and I think it may be the hardest to learn. The reading says the focus principle is about challenging one’s assumptions: to not act surprised when the customer does something “wrong,” to not necessarily nod when the customer says something that you already believe, and to admit that you don’t know something if the customer talks about it. Focus seems like something that can only be achieved over time with practice.
Beyer and Holtzblatt say that the apprenticeship model is no longer common, even though it is so effective. This statement seems to be contradicted in some areas of the chapter. There are times when the reading says the interviewer needs to act like an apprentice. Although contextual inquiry is different from the apprenticeship model, contextual inquiry uses some aspects of the apprenticeship model.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
I found this reading to be very helpful in explaining how to observe people performing tasks. Kathleen Gomoll, the author of the chapter, works at Apple, and I did not know that Apple observes the users of its products. Apple’s testing of its products with users may be part of the reason why its products are popular. I agree with Gomoll when she says to tell the user why they are being observed and to tell the user to think out loud. Telling users why they are being observed puts them at ease because they know that their abilities are not being tested; instead, the ease of use of the program is being tested. Furthermore, telling the user to think out loud helps the observer in understanding the thought process of the user. This chapter provided a nice summary of what observers should remember to do when observing a user of a product.
[edit] Katherine Tong 14:33, 5 February 2007 (PST)
"Principles of Contextual Inquiry"
I feel that the use and explanation of the master/apprentice model was very well done in this article. I felt that the most important issue was allowing the interviewer to share his/her idea(s). "By sharing the idea, the interviewer improves her understand of the work and checks out her design idea at the same time. In addition, the idea suggests to the customer what technology could do" (54). This was interesting because it seemed like the only time that the interviewer is actually encouraged to "disrupt" the user's thought process. I feel like one's knowledge of available technology would definitely limit their understanding of the capabilities of a design, which makes this issue even more important.
"Some Techniques for Observing Users"
This outline of techniques is quite useful. Not only does it give us an idea of what we need to look for and how we need to act, but it really allows the interviewer to try to understand what the user is feeling, opposed to what the user is thinking. I really thought the examples of typical questions to ask is very helpful, in that it made me understand how the user could react. The final step (Use the Results) really drives at a deep understanding. "After you've examined the results and summarized the findings, fix the problems you've found and have the users try it out again" (Step 10). This was the only advice that the "Contextual Inquiry" article did not have.
[edit] Patricia Wang 14:20, 5 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry”
This article discusses a number of principles important in the observation and collection of data from users. It firsts details the master/apprentice model, which is essentially encourages the design team to assume the position of the apprentice and assign the customer as the master craftsman. This model provides a great design mindset since it acknowledges the importance of the customer, and by placing the design team at the client site, nuances about the working environment and process can be more easily recognized. The article details a number of principles which enhance the apprenticeship model and are central to a successful contextual inquiry: context, partnership, interpretation, and focus. I found it interesting how natural it is to fall into an abstraction or a summary of things, rather than sticking to concrete data and details which probably have large impacts on design quality.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
This article is essentially an instruction guide for observing users. It aims to allow the designer to determine what is causing the user problems and how improvements can be made. The method seems to be a relatively sound way of evaluating the usability of a design, especially since much of the experiment stays true to how a user might operate the product at home. Probably the most telling steps would be the “Think Aloud” step and the observation conclusion. By encouraging the user to think aloud, the observer would be presented with not only the thought process but the opportunity to read between the lines and really grasp the nature of the interaction between the user and the design. After the observation is over, revealing what exactly was being observed and other points that may have stood out allows the user to provide feedback that may not have been vocalized during the experiment.
[edit] Justin Hsu 14:23, 5 February 2007 (PST)
[edit] "Principles of Contextual Inquiry"
The article "Principles of Contextual Inquiry" gives a comprehensive description on how designers should collect and utilize information from test subjects in order to improve their designs. It was interesting how the author broke down methods of communication and interaction by a different relationship dynamics. I would have to agree that the ideal relationship with a test subject would be the mutual partnership. While the data collected is based on the test subject's interaction with the interface, the interviewer should take an active role in questioning the subject. By having the exchange become a dialogue rather than a one sided conservation, the designer is able to better learn the test subject's thought processes. One particularly good point that I thought the article brought up was the fact that people tend to generalize. From my own personal experience, people gloss over the details when describing their daily routines. The article listed strong and reasonable ways to prevent this from happening: asking the subject to provide certain examples, asking specific questions, etc. The only thing that I had somewhat of a problem with was the format of the article. I did not like how in many instances the article did not provide a general framework for how the process should be carried out. The dialogue was an effort toward this but a general framework would have been nice. However, the next chapter "Contextual Inquiry in Practice" seems like it would address my concerns in this respect. I can see the concepts being taught here to be immediately applicable in many different fields of research.
[edit] "Some Techniques for Observing Users"
The article "Some Techniques for Observing Users" reiterates many of the same themes discussed in "Principles of Contextual Inquiry." However I felt that this article was more practical because it took the highly conceptual themes of the previous article and constructed an easy to understand, step-by-step framework from it. While it does not explicitly state each theme from the previous article, all of them are eventually addressed one way or the other. I especially like the steps that were mainly for putting the test subject at ease and making him or her feel like they are in a familiar environment. Since the data is based on the reactions of the subject, I feel that the environment and comfort play an especially large role in the experiment. It is for this reason why I am glad that the article used several steps to address these concerns. The only improvement I may add is the step where it explains that you should not help the test subject. While I understand the thinking behind this reasoning, I would argue that a little help after a long delay to guide the user may yield more interaction and a better understanding of the subject's thought processes. Otherwise the designer may not get enough useful information other than the fact that the subject is completely stuck.
[edit] Yang Hung 14:50, 5 February 2007 (PST)
"Principles of Contextual Inquiry" This article starts off with talking about how the master/apprenticeship model is a good framework in conducting interviews, especially interviewers with no background in ethnography. It then describes how to use the four principles of contextual inquiry (context, partnership, interpretation, and focus) to "customize" the basic master/apprenticeship model to handle a specific design task or interview. Lastly, it talks about how to structure a typical contextual interview. I found the article dry, but the content and information given was very good. I think the article should give more real life examples to make the chapter more interesting.
"Some Techniques for Observing Users" This article talks about the experiences of Kathleen Gomoll when she conducts design interviews. She outlines her method of "user observation" in 10 steps. I like the fact that this article is concise and to the point, but for each of her "steps" I would have liked her to talk about a specific example of that step in action so that I have a good reference point to frame her steps on.
[edit] Megan Whittey 14:39, 5 February 2007 (PST)
"Principals of Contextual Inquiry" I enjoyed reading this article; it seemed to flow pretty well. I liked how it described the different techniques at which to observe users and the flaws or troubles that could go wrong with each. I liked the apprentice and master technique. It seems like this approach would make the user feel good and not too pressured if someone is just watching them and asking questions to clarify every now and then. It makes them feel as if they are the expert and the other person is learning from them, so to me it seems that the user would be more inclined to teach the 'apprentice' on what was going on. I also enjoyed how it gave examples of what questions to ask to get more detail out of a situation or procedure. I find it amusing how everyone does seem to 'gloss over' or summarize events that occur and it takes prying and questioning to see each step that actually occured, what they did, and why; like what the secretary did when she came in to work example. I also feel the skills they included on how to conduct a good interview and how to politely say no but offer your opinion are valuable to the business world today.
"Some Techniques for Observing Users" This article was simple and straight to the point. She outlined each of the ten steps and explained each step, if needed. It was clear and concise and as I read each step and the explanation that went along with it I could picture each step being carried out in my head. Making the users feel at home and comfortable I feel are key elements to producing a 'real environment' in which they may use the product. This way the designer who is conducting the experiment can get as close as they can to observing the 'real problems' their customer or user may develop while using the product. I like how she also included in the article that you shouldn't answer questions, unless the user is completely stuck. This makes sense because the user won't have someone there holding their hand every step of the way at home. The will have to figure it out on their own and it's valuable to the designer to see the process in which the user goes about fixing or getting through their problem. I found it interesting that the Apple company is the one who wrote this article. It makes sense since most of their products do seem to be 'user friendly' and easy to understand, and the reason behind this is because they seem to do so thorough user testing in the beginning of designing each of their products.
[edit] Karena 14:57, 5 February 2007 (PST)
“Principle of Contextual Inquiry” This article emphasizes on the importance of getting feedback from the root of the product, the users. The author explains that the design of the product and the interview should be based on the customer need. Hence designer and producer and elaborate customer’s opinions easily. I totally agree with author at this point. I notice that companies that sell electronic products, for example Dell and Sharp, are now conducting online survey to gather users’ feedback. This information is very important because those companies will take that information into consideration for future design.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users” In this article Kathleen Gomoll shows us ten steps to interview users. I totally agree with the author that we should let people know the purpose of the interview in advance and tell them that they can quit the interview anytime they want. I seldom participate in interview because I do not know if I should quit the interview when I get bored. Therefore, telling people that they are quit the interview anytime will strongly enocurage more people to do the interview.
[edit] Shady Guirguis 15:51, 5 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry” This article was a really interesting article to read, as it gave a guideline to the interviewing process and how to gather information when interviewing with someone. It emphasized the importance of allowing the customer talk freely about their routine life and be able to express their thoughts. It discussed how unbeneficial it can be to have a set of questions that require answers. I agree with most of the things in the article, but I disagree with the fact that we should allow the interviewee to have control of the conversation. This can cause unnecessary information and can leave questions unanswered. Although it is important to learn about the person you are talking with, I think active listening should be practiced while the interviewer has control of the conversation.
“Observing Users” This article was more of a guideline than a read. The article gave a guideline a on how to perform the interview with customers. It is an important to tool to know what effects a product will have on the customers. The article gave a way to drive the article and make sure to observe the customers usage of a new product. It helps the interviewer perform the interview in a controlled environment.
[edit] James ChunJye Tong 15:46, 5 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry”
This article discusses the techniques of contextual inquiry. I agree with the author that observation is important when developing products. The easiest way to learn about the users is to understand what they are doing. Sometimes it is hard for the users to tell product designers how they do certain things because they are so used to what they have been doing and all the actions just come up naturally. The four principles of contextual inquiry are context, partnership, interpretation, and focus. I think they are useful interview techniques. I think this article has provided some good examples to demonstrate the basic principles; however, many of them seem to be repetitive. For example, in “Summary vs. Ongoing Experience” and “Abstract vs. Concrete Data,” they are basically saying that human mind tend to summarize what they did instead of remembering all the details, therefore, if the interviewer just listening to the users about their actions, he will not get the whole picture of what exactly happened.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
This article discusses the ten steps that will generate a good observation. I think it is important to know how the participants feel during the observation so the observers will get the most accurate data that will be most useful to their investigation. I think it is also important to let the participants know the natural of the observation so they will trust the observers and feel relaxed during the observation.
[edit] Shwan Kazzaz 15:54, 5 February 2007 (PST)
"Contextual Inquiry" The part about approaching contextual inquiry as a master craftsman approaching an apprentice was interesting to me. However, it did not seem entirely accurate, because in this scenario, the apprentice is the one who has to guide the master in the conversation. Leading them to be as vocal as possible, and not miss explaining every detail, by asking just the right questions. Where usually this is not the typical interaction of a master and an apprentice, because the master is usually all-knowing. The article also went over the 4 principles of contextual inquiry: 1. Context - this is important as people may forget to describe certain details if they aren't in context. 2. Partnership - an effective partnership must be formed for good results. The point is to work along with the user to effectively extract as much information as possible 3. Interpretation - the information received is useless unless properly interpreted. We must come to certain conclusions in order for the session to be effective. 4. Focus - one must chose a problem to focus on. This is where the apprentice gets a chance to guide the conversation.
"Observing Users" This article outlined 10 steps necessary to effectively observe users. The first is the set up the observation. This involves writing the tasks, recruiting users, and setting up realistic situations. The second is to describe the observation's purpose, this gives the user and idea of what is going on. Third, it's ok to quit at any time. You want good data. Fourth, explain the equipment, this removes intimidation and confusion. Fifth, explain that you want the user to "think aloud," this helps ensure you actually get the information you want. Sixth, explaining you won't help makes it so the user doesn't rely on you. Seventh, explain the tasks and introduce the product. Eighth, answer questions before starting. Ninth, concluding the observation wraps it all up. Ten, use the results. This article will be useful when I begin to go to users for observations.
[edit] Marshall Anderson 15:56, 5 February 2007 (PST)
Techniques for Observing Users:
I found this paper to be a very clear on concise way to observe users properly. Most of the steps seemed standard but I liked her emphasis on making the user feel comfortable and helping them understand the process. I thought the forth step was geared too much to HID because she tells us to demonstrate the use of any equipment (keyboard and mouse) that the user will need to complete the task. But if you are testing a mechanical interface you may want to observe how they figure out how to use the controls (mapping, etc) to complete tasks.
Principles of Contextual Inquiry:
This chapter covered tons of great tips for a successful observation session. A lot of the major points could be argued to be common sense but there were a plenty of details that helped. I particularly found the whole discussion about different relationship models helpful. I would have never thought that something like that would affect data collection but now that I think about it, it is obvious. I have participated in a contextual interview so it was an interesting read. My experience was one that started with a interviewer/interviewee list of questions type that thankfully transitioned to observing actual tasks being done. We were able to understand the user's needs a lot better once he started doing his work.
[edit] Luna Dai 16:06, 5 February 2007 (PST)
"Contextual Inquiry"
This article explained the importance of contextual inquiry in providing product feedback from users. By setting the observational use study in the natural environment of the user, contextual inquiry better captures the user's actual experience using the product by placing the user in the context of his everyday work. In a familiar setting, the user more easily recalls the specific details of the processes he goes through with the product. This gives the designer more relevant and accurate user feedback which in turn allows the designer to create a better user interface for the product in the future. To extract the most essential information from observation studies, the interviewer must adopt a relationship model that facilitates accurate user responses. The article goes through the Master/Apprentice relationship in which the apprentice (interviewer) must constantly ask the master (user) questions to understand the underlying logical process behind individual actions. I think this part may be difficult to carry out since users may be more self-conscious under observation, trying to follow what they think is correct usage instead of their personal usage - which is exactly what the interviewer wants to find out.
"Some Techniques for Observing Users"
This article gives a practical step-by-step guide to setting up a user observation study. I would disagree with the author's guidelines for a "realistic" situation. She recommends a quiet, enclosed room that is free from interruptions. Realistically, users will work in an environment that ranges from a quiet bed to a bustling coffeehouse. Also, I'd be surprised if the average user would turn of their cellphones to use a product. I think the observation study would be more realistic if occasional distractions were part of the study. This would let the observer see the effect of different interaction designs on the amount of time needed for a user to get back into what he was doing after an interruption. For example, does the interface highlight where he left off?
[edit] Minhaaj Khan 15:59, 5 February 2007 (PST)
Principals of Contextual Inquiry
This chapter was and interesting read and the importance of contextual inquiry should be stressed in most design processes if not all. The basic idea behind contextual inquiry is that the designer will watch the customer work in the way an apprentice would learn from his/her master. I found this very interesting as I’m sure that in many design process a lot of designers will come in with a list of questions during the designer/customer interaction phase and ask them as if they’re the expert. I like the idea of contextual inquiry as it maximizes not only relevant data collection for the design process, but also develops an understanding of the way the customer thinks/acts and what his/her needs are as he/she is carrying out his/her daily activities. This process stresses the importance of learning from the customer while remaining in control by directing questions in a way that allows a partnership to develop; where both the designer and the customer look at the structure in the customer’s work, thus allowing for better interpretations of the customers needs.
Some Techniques for Observing Users
This article is similar to the chapter on contextual inquiry in that it stresses the importance of involving users/customers in the design process. Similar to contextual inquiry, this article discusses the steps used by some lady at Apple Computers Inc. to get the most out of users in the design process of an application. Similar to contextual inquiry, the user is asked to carry out tasks with what they’re given, while the designer observes. The users are asked to think out loud while completing tasks, which I’m sure is very helpful in finding problems with the interface. This article was straightforward but definitely a good way to incorporate users into the design process.
[edit] Ryan Panchadsaram 16:02, 5 February 2007 (PST)
Contextual Inquiry in Practice This article touches the surface on what it takes to conduct a useful contextual interview. It goes through the basic format and etiquette while conducting an interview with a customer. I like how the article shows how much value is gained from a contextual interview. The stories about the secretary who describes her day is only the tip of the iceberg of her actual day. When you go in and actually observe a person, so much more information comes to life. In a way, a contextual interview can outweigh he value of a phone interview or a survey with a thousand people. The information you get from observing a customer using your product in their natural environment can suggest a number of design changes. These design changes directly relate to actions the customer takes, thus improving the product.
Some Techniques for Observing Users
In this article Gomoll, an expert at Apple Computer, Inc., walks us through the steps of conducting an interview. She explains the role of users at Apple and stresses the importance of observing them. She gives us an example of her time working on a help application that used design suggestions influenced by customer observations. She lists ten steps that walk us through an observation. The most important one in my mind is the last one that demands us to "use the results". Having great notes and turning that into recommendations is key for any observer.
[edit] Fenelia Kosasih 16:06, 5 February 2007 (PST)
Both article highlight the importance of involving users in the design of an interface, but give different ways to go about observing and obtaining feedback from the users.
In "Some Techniques for Observing Users", the users get to try out the task in an environment that is simulated to be as realistic as possible. And in order to understand the users thought process and the difficulties that the users might encounter while using the interface, they were asked to think aloud and say out their thinking process.
In "Principles of Contextual Inquiry," the method of observing the users and gathering data is presented in the form of the master and apprentice model of interaction, where the customers are the master and teaches the observer (the apprentice) at the same time he is performing the task. The purpose of it is to ensure important details will not be missed.
I feel that both articles provide good guidelines to observe user, however, the first technique might cause the user to feel uncomfortable, which might prevent the user to not act or think as he would under natural circumstances. This might in turn affect the observation results.
[edit] Aubuchon 16:17, 5 February 2007 (PST)
“Principles of Contextual Inquiry”
By “contextual inquiry,” the authors mean that the designer should observe the user while actually at work. The authors claim this is a good way to get a deeper understanding of the user. They believe that a situation that leads to “natural human behavior” will be most beneficial to the design process. Some listed advantages of contextual inquiry include the covering of fine details, the increase in ease of learning the user’s situation, and the stimulated recollection of past memories/problems with the design of an item.
The article gives many general tips, such as maintain a good balance between questioning/probing and simply watching the user. It also warns against being too nosy! It suggests that one should let the user shape your understanding of the work.
This article has a many good tips, though it is a little long. It was very helpful to have the key phrases enlarged on the sides of the text, so the reader can better assimilate the main points. This article on a whole just reminds me that a fresh look is really what helps in design. Many times, the user simply doesn’t have the problem that he thinks he has, and an objective view is needed.
“Some Techniques for Observing Users”
This article emphasizes that users should be involved in all steps in the design process. These include brainstorming, prototyping, building, and evaluating. Observing the user is a critical part of evaluating the effectiveness of a design. The article outlines ten steps on how to do this observation effectively. These steps seem to be good way of encouraging all information the user has in his head to come forward (for instance, thi