Contextual Inquiry: Getting your data out of the user

You’re finally in your interview, pen in hand, notebook out and a big smile on your face ready to interview away. You’ve gotten your foot (and whole self) into the users office and hit the record button, but hideous problems immediately raise their beastly little heads before you.

Maybe they won’t pause their work and let you give an intro. Maybe they just want to school you in their profession and not the task the hand. Sometimes all they want to do is air their personal list of requirements and then sometimes they don’t actually do the process your looking for at all. Either way they make you cringe in pain, so here is my advice (so far) for these particularly icky situations.

1. The won’t pause for an introduction
Listen and then redirect them to the focus. You may well never get a chance to give an intro, so you better get all you can while you can. If your user is really this busy, spend your time trying to keep up rather then worry about the intro.

2. They want to teach you their profession and not show you their work
Listen and then redirect them to the focus. Give them a quick wrap up of what you have learned so far if they won’t move on. It’s not gong to be easy, but keep the focus of the project in mind and make everything have to revolve around as if it were the sun itself.

3. They just want to complain about the system
Listen and then redirect them to the focus. Ask them how that particular issue happens as they work within focus and have them show you. If they can’t show you, drop it. If it’s out of focus, drop it. If you know a quick work around, drop it. Wait till the end of the interview and ask them if they had anything they wanted to share and give them any tips you might know.

4. They don’t do the process you’re focused on
Listen and then redirect them to the focus. Pretty rare that you’ll get such a narrow focus and you’ll be surprised what you find if you just dig deeper for it.

If you can remember to listen and then redirect them to the project focus you can get through any problems. Your there to listen and these people will love to be heard. This is the heart and soul of the Context Interview, keep that mind and you will never have a rotten interview data wise.