Implementing Contextual Design
Contextual Design is a user-centered design process that starts with one-on-one field interviews and ends with the creation of a detailed prototype. It has become popular with Agile development teams because it provides the rigor and process they need to translate research data into actionable design requirements. However, the many parts of Contextual Design can be difficult to understand and implement. This blog post will break down the major components of this user-centered design approach, explain their purpose, and describe problems that can arise in implementing it.
The core of the Contextual Design process, contextual inquiry involves observing end-users in their natural environment as they work on a variety of tasks. The goal is to discover their motivations, strategies, and mental models. This is a qualitative process – participants are asked to talk freely, and there is no set script or list of questions. The interviewer adopts a master-apprentice relationship with the participant, asking open-ended questions and helping them draw out their work practice in detail. This is a more participatory design method than a traditional focus group, and it requires a significant time commitment from both the participant and the interviewer.
Interviews can be conducted face-to-face, but they don’t have to be – phone or IM interviews are just as effective. The most important thing is to capture as much detail as possible about the user’s work practices. This detail will be used in the next step, the affinity diagram and work models, to help the team understand what they need to design.
Common Challenges in Implementing Contextual Design in an Agile Environment
From the consolidated information from the affinity diagram and work models, the design team can start to invent how a new system could transform their users’ workflows. The visioning stage is the key to making this happen. The team uses the consolidated context data to drive conversations about how the new system will improve their users’ lives and their productivity.
Once the team has a high-level design solution in mind, they can use storyboards and the User Environment Design to develop and validate the design. Then they can build and test a paper prototype to make sure the design works as intended before it is developed in an Agile development environment.
During the prototyping phase of the Contextual Design process, the designers can learn about how users will interact with their product through guided testing. This is an important step in avoiding expensive re-designs down the road, and it helps ensure that the design is user-centered.
As with any user-centered design process, the biggest challenge is to get the entire cross-functional team behind it. The more the team buys in, the easier it will be to implement and maintain the Contextual Design process. The best way to do this is to share the interview findings with the entire organization, using both a written description of the results and a series of picture-based “work models” that can be easily shared via email or intranet.