Contextual Inquiry: Improving current work flow
SUMMARY
My partner and I conducted a contextual inquiry in our participant's work place for our HCI Design Methods class (IMT 540). The goal of the research was to analyze the partcipant's current work flow and find breakdowns where the process could be improved. We developed preliminary solutions based on our findings.MY ROLE
User researcherPROCESS
- Entered the partipant's place of work
- Followed the "master and apprentice'' approach of observing our participant
- Each of us alternated between note-taking and asking questions
- Discussed our main findings and located main trouble spots
- Ideated solutions
RESULT
From observing our participant, my partner and I were able to gain crucial real life exposure to conducting a contextual inquiry and the challenges of performing such a study successfully. We devised two sets of recommendations, one that would have a lesser impact but would be easier to implement, and one that would have the maximum impact but would require structural changes to the information infrastructure.
Download the Contextual Inquiry Report (.doc)
Group member: Peiwen (Claire) Huang