Contextual Inquiry: How Ethnographic Research Can Impact the UX of your Website

Abstract

A contextual inquiry is a research study that involves in-depth interviews where users walk through common tasks in the physical environment in which they typically perform them. It can be used to better understand the intents and motivations behind user behavior. In this session, learn what’s needed to conduct a contextual inquiry and how to analyze the ethnographic data once collected. We’ll cover how to synthesize and visualize your findings as sequence models and affinity diagrams that directly inform the development of personas and common task flows. Finally, learn how this process can help guide your design and content strategy efforts while constructing a rich picture of the user experience.