Observing and interviewing users simultaneously in their natural work context — the gold standard for discovering what people actually do rather than what they say they do. The researcher takes the role of apprentice, asking the participant (master) to explain their work while observing in the actual environment. Four principles guide the practice: Context (conduct where work happens), Partnership (researcher as engaged learner), Interpretation (share interpretations in real time to surface tacit knowledge), and Focus (stay on the work that matters to the research question). During CI, collect all artifacts the participant has created or modified — post-it notes, spreadsheets, annotated manuals, physical workarounds — and analyse for information the interface failed to surface, actions the interface failed to afford, and mental models embedded in the artifact structure.
Category
User Research