Contextual Inquiry
A field research method where you observe and interview users in their own environment while they perform real tasks, gathering context you can’t get in a lab.
Why it matters
People are unreliable narrators of their own workarounds — they demo the official process, not the sticky-note system that actually runs their day. Watching work happen where it happens surfaces the truths no interview room ever hears.
The numbers
- Master-apprentice — the stance: they work, you learn
- 4 principles — context, partnership, interpretation, focus
Related terms
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