Contextual Inquiry | Go into the Field to Observe and Interview Users | UX Method Mondays

[@zerotoux]

What is something quirky your friends have pointed out about you? My friend once told me that of the 5 sense, sound is what I'm most sensitive to!

[@almirlibre]

Thank you a lot for this video! I think it's short and dense of informations, witch I like very much! Congrats for your perform!

[@zerotoux]

Thank you for watching and for your kind words!!! Mad love!

[@1234hijrah]

this is better than reading text book T-T, its hard to understand what the books mean cause not a lot of them give an exampleee, an here we goo... you have great way to deliver it... thank youuu

[@zerotoux]

that means a lot!! Thank you, Yusla!!

[@thawhid4711]

It's like the universe really wanted me to learn this, this week because I was studying yesterday and this topic came up. As always you're fantastic and an invaluable resource! Love ya

[@zerotoux]

Great timing! 🥳 Hope the studying is going well 💪 mad love

[@oni9346]

Same! I literally had a lecture on this a few days ago

[@bakradkydikian5117]

Thank you very much.

[@zerotoux]

Thank you for watching!! 🤩✌️🥳

[@mattevarnish7455]

Really awesome video! It’s good to see a researcher out here putting out good content.

[@zerotoux]

Thanks Michael! If there's any topic you'd want to see, just let me know!

[@uditmaitra]

Nice one 👍

[@zerotoux]

Thanks for the support Udit!

[@ABurningCandle]

Thanks for another great video, Kevin. I was wondering if you could make your next video about how to write a cover letter and resume when you don't have industry experience. I am really curious about how you wrote yours when you were starting out and just had personal projects under your belt.

[@zerotoux]

That's a great idea! I'll make one but give it a few weeks for that to come out!

[@ABurningCandle]

@@zerotoux Awesome! Thanks!

[@Phoca_Vitulina]

Great video! Super helpful and really well organized. Thanks!

[@zerotoux]

Thanks for watching as always!!🥳💪

[@Phoca_Vitulina]

@@zerotoux Haha it's easy to do because your videos are so well done!

[@VividDiariesThePassion]

Thank you Kevin. Truly Informative.

[@zerotoux]

Thank you for watching!

[@JWu1212]

thanks for your sharing I am subscriber now!! I am former qualitative researcher from market research firm but know I want to learn more about UX research esp. quantitative methods. Could you share the framework of the most-have skills as the starting point for exploration.

[@manyao2873]

Really helpful, Kevin!

[@christinaperry5175]

Hi Kevin, thank you so much for sharing as an expert. Could you please mention the difference between contextual inquiry and ethnography? Here is my understanding, please correct me if I am wrong and add more details. Ethnography is being with users to do the same task in a natural environment; contextual inquiry is interviewing users while they in a natural environment.

[@DUPE321]

Very helpful and informative!

[@zerotoux]

Thank you for watching!! Glad it was helpful!!

[@keshavkesuu]

6:50 Hawthorne effect

[@vantage789]

Do scientists normally work with giant animated graphics of DNA strands on huge screens behind them?

[@zerotoux]

🤣 it's the only way!

[@Unisthegreat]

Hey Kevin, Super helpful. But what is the difference between Contextual inquiry and Ethnographic interview?

[@zerotoux]

Hi Linda, thanks for the question! UX Researchers do not conduct "true" ethnographies. "True" ethnography is when people, for example, go live in Sudan for several years to become part of the culture, learn their ways, mental models, social interactions, and dive REALLY deep into their lives (My anthropology friend told me it's an insult to say UXRs do ethnography lol I thought that was a bit strong, but I get it). The UXR variation of ethnography is going to the environment of your user, and observing their lives, typically for a day or two, from waking hours to sleeping. One could also accomplish this by also setting up cameras and watching them throughout the day. Use this if you are in the stages of trying to create something new and different because you can dig super deep into needs that are harder to find. Contextual inquiry on the other hand, is conducting semi-structured interviews and observations in the person's environment typically for 1-4 hours. The beauty of it is that in UXR, we can adapt the extent to which we want to observe. They both do the same thing, understand users, and identify needs, one is more involved.

[@Unisthegreat]

@@zerotoux Thank you!

[@biggiesimals]

Great content!! You mentioned that you record video and voice in your sessions. How often do you or your team go back and watch/listen those artifacts? I ask because we sometimes do it at work, but I rarely see people going back to the recording. They rather just see the notes I took.

[@zerotoux]

Great question! I go back if there's a great quote, something I missed in note taking, or something interesting that users did that is better conveyed by video than my words. Example: I did a study with smartwatches once and users had trouble using the voice feature. So I just told stakeholders that. They said ok cool, we know that, it'll take time. In reality users were frustrated and ended up using another device, which meant they abandoned our product for another. I showed them video evidence of this, and immediately it was prioritized. It can be powerful, but otherwise you're right, it's not reviewed in its entirety. That would take too long, use it when you have something you can use for evidence!

[@biggiesimals]

@@zerotoux Ah that's great insight thank you! My team is actually trying to see if we can work with a startup called Reduct.Video to see if we can transcribe all our uxr videos. It lets us search for keywords and takes us to where the user said that word.

[@candacetan4877]

what do you think of the development of new media + UX future?

[@zerotoux]

Can you clarify what you mean by new media and UX?

[@WorldlyNomadic]

What questions should we be asking when conducting contextual inquiry? I guess it’s just a fancy word for an interview lol

[@jiyongkwon5868]

Love the video as always. But Kevin, get more sleep! Your dark under eye circles are concerning....

[@zerotoux]

LMAO 🤣 appreciate the concern!! I will try to get more sleep 😴😴 🙂

[@esksmith5623]

Pen and paper? Seriously? )

[@zerotoux]

Yes! When we go into others' homes or workplaces, we should take notes with pen and paper. Having a laptop in front of your face while talking to participants can seem disconnected And this is especially necessary when you conduct contextual inquiry in different countries or cultures because a laptop may be seen as rude

[@esksmith5623]

Kevin Liang, thank you for the reply! I am usually using my iPhone for taking notes. It’s easier to check them and add later to the Miro board, for example. I also hate my handwriting btw ) are there any arguments against a smartphone?

[@petyakgrady]

@@esksmith5623 I think you want to do everything you can to put your participant at ease and assure them that this interview is worth their time. If you are on your phone the whole time, even if you are just taking notes.... it may appear to them that you are texting, etc. and it could become distracting to them. You want to do everything you can to eliminate any opportunity for misunderstanding.