Tutorial: 17. Getting Started on a Contextual Project

Karen Holtzblatt, InContext Enterprises; Hugh Beyer, InContext Enterprises

Benefits
You will be able to plan and conduct a project using contextual techniques to gather customer data.

Origins
Update of a highly rated CHI 97 tutorial.

Features

• learn technical and organizational issues to consider before introducing contextual techniques
• learn how to
  • choose a project and set its focus
  • define what work to investigate and what techniques to use
  • decide which customers to visit
  • set up the logistics for a visit
  • plan the appropriate methods to analyze the resulting data given organizational constraints
  • structure the project and data gathering teams for best effect
  • communicate the project's findings
  • start planning for your own project
• have the opportunity to discuss specific situations and problems with others and with the instructors

Audience
Anyone interested in putting contextual or customer-centered techniques into practice in their own projects. Will be most valuable to those with some knowledge of contextual techniques since it focuses on procedural aspects of using them and takes knowledge of the techniques for granted.

Presentation
Lecture, demonstration and hands-on exercises.

Instructors
The instructors developed Contextual Design, a customer-centered design process that extends the contextual inquiry data gathering technique. Dr. Holtzblatt originated the Contextual Inquiry approach to field data collection and pioneered its introduction into working engineering teams. She has used customer-centered processes to design and evaluate software, hardware and business processes. Hugh Beyer has worked in the industry as programmer, architect and consultant. He has designed and developed object-oriented repositories and integrated CASE systems, and has developed processes for using customer data to drive object-oriented design. They are co-founders of InContext Enterprises Inc., coaching teams to design products, product strategies and information systems from customer data.

Related Tutorial

• 10. Structured Observation: Practical Methods for Understanding Users and Their Work in Context (Sunday)