Summary - Contextual inquiry is an ethnographic research technique that involves the facilitator observing and interviewing participants in a setting where the participant naturally performs relevant behaviors to the subject of the research. Contextual inquiry is best utilized to uncover behaviors and information seeking agendas prior to designing a system, application, or interface.
Pros - Participants feel more at ease when performing relevant tasks. Task recall is easier in the context of the surroundings where relevant tasks naturally occur. The researcher is able to observe environmental factors, constraints, and technologies used. The researcher is also able to observe actual documents and information that is kept close at-hand, when actions and behaviors are performed.
Cons - Travel is sometimes required to interview locations, and this may be expensive. Additionally, unexpected environmental issues may prevent the optimal recording of audio or video. Contextual inquiry can also be dangerous, especially when participants are recruited from Craigslist. There is some risk associated with this type of field research. Don't perform this research by yourself. Always travel in pairs!
2. Lab-Based Usability Testing
Summary - Usability testing is an analysis or validation of a design in which success or failure is measured according to how easy it is for participants to perform key tasks using the design. Designs can be low fidelity (e.g. - a wireframe) or high-fidelity (a visual design comp) and testing can be performed on paper, on electronic files, or on functional prototypes.
Pros - The laboratory provides a measure of control in which unexpected changes in the environment and the testing equipment can be eliminated or minimized.
Cons -If the usability test includes a computer, there will always be differences in the set-up of the lab-based computer and the user's own computer. Additionally, the laboratory may be an unsettling environment for the participant. In general, participants feel more at ease in their own homes or places of work, as well as using their own computers.
3. Focus Groups
Summary - Focus groups are interviews with a group of participants in a laboratory-based setting (or a conference room). In a focus group, attitudes and perceptions of a group of people can be collected during the course of a moderated discussion.
Pros - A focus group allows a larger number of opinions to be collected at one time vs. 1-on-1 interviews with participants. This type of research may be more convenient for clients to observe. Focus groups are great for brainstorming ideas because individuals within the group tend to feed off of the ideas of other individuals in the group.
Cons - Focus groups are not great for understanding end-user behavior. Group dynamics play a role in the responses of each individual in the focus group. There will generally be one or more vocal participants who will influence the responses of the other participants in the room. The reverse may also be true. Some participants may rarely speak at all. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain the same level of unbiased information from each individual in the group.
4. Surveys
Summary - Surveys are used to collect feedback from a large number of respondents. Surveys may consist of closed or open-ended questions, or they may be a mixture of both.
Pros - Surveys are an ideal research tactic when a statistically significant number of responses to specific questions are needed. They can be deployed via email or from a 3rd party, hosted platform. Survey tools are generally inexpensive and generally include reporting and charting capabilities from collected responses.
Cons - Survey research is not moderated, so a researcher has no opportunity to probe responses to questions with follow-up questions. Additionally, although closed-ended responses are easier to generate reports from, they are limited in the richness of data that open-ended responses provide. A researcher learns only what the limitation of the tool allows him or her to learn.
5. Card Sorting
Summary - Card sorting exercises are typically, but not always, conducted as a 1-on-1 activity. The goal of a card sorting exercise is to understand end-user information organizational models. These models typically inform end-user taxonomies and information categorization schemes.
Pros - Tools exist to allow researchers to conduct a larger number of card sorting exercises online, similar to deploying a survey. The benefit of using an online card sorting tool is the ability to generate reports and quickly assess the most ideal taxonomy from analysis of all of the card sorts conducted.
Cons - Card sorting is difficult to explain to end-users. Therefore, deploying card sorting exercises without a face-to-face explanation of how to take the test properly, may result in a high-rate of abandonment. Finally, taxonomy development is a professional discipline. Taxonomists and information architects should not rely solely on untrained, end-users when constructing a logical categorization scheme for a system.
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