Defining Contextual Inquiry & Diary Studies

Contextual inquiry is a qualitative method that falls into the ethnographic study category, which uses a semi-structured interview technique to collect data. Contextual inquiry is used when you need to collect in-depth information from a small sample of participants to gain a robust and detailed understanding of their behaviors and processes while completing a particular task. The key aspect of contextual inquiry is observing the user within the everyday context in which they complete a task. The interviewer will question the user throughout the process to uncover obstacles or hidden processes that contribute to the main task. Most of the time, contextual inquiry is used for complex tasks with expert users.

Diary studies can consist of qualitative and quantitative data, depending on how tasks are structured. They are designed to collect data over a certain period of time to better understand behaviors and their triggers, frequency of actions, and user processes. Diary studies have different types of tasks, including interval, signal, and event-based. Choosing the tasks for your research depends entirely on the objectives and nature of the subject.

Pros and Cons of Contextual Inquiry

Pros

Extremely Detailed Information: This type of research aims to collect as much information as possible about the processes your users take to complete a task. Generally, contextual inquiry's specific and focused nature means that you will get much more detailed feedback than other types of qualitative research.

Completely User Centered: Contextual inquiry puts your users right in the center of your focus. Since your users are the ones leading the interview, you will be able to see your products from their point of view.

Highly Accurate: A key factor of these interviews is that they are conducted in the users' natural environment, so there should be less "interview bias," and your users should feel more comfortable sharing their authentic and unfiltered opinions.

Actionable Insights: Having an accurate and detailed account of the steps taken by your users will ultimately yield rich and actionable insights. You will be able to map and understand how your products fit within the general context of their lives and improve your design to help your products integrate more seamlessly.

Cons

Time Consuming: It's important for the interviewer to be present throughout the interview, whether it's conducted in person or remotely. Between the preparation, the actual interviews, and the analysis, this methodology stacks up to be one of the more time-consuming.

Interpreter Bias: This is a common obstacle with all qualitative research studies, but it can be minimized by using research from other methodologies to tell a more robust story.

Lesser-Known Methodology: Most participants won't be familiar with this qualitative research style and may not be up for taking an active role in the research. Thus, explaining this methodology thoroughly and setting proper expectations is essential.

Pros and Cons of Diary Studies

Pros

Task Flexibility: Multiple task types can be leveraged when conducting a diary study. Researchers can include a mixture of qualitative and quantitative questions to give users some variety and to provide well-rounded data.

Understand In-Context Behaviors: The data collected in diary studies gives researchers information from a user's point of view and within the context of how they use the test product or service in their everyday life. This allows researchers to discover triggers, obstacles, and great data-backed solutions for real-world user problems.

Discover User Habits: Since diary studies are longitudinal by nature, you can start to see similarities and differences between the habits of your users. If you are testing a new concept, you can see how users adjust to this new product in the context of their lifestyles. The longitudinal study design also reduces novelty effects that may skew results.

Cons

No Direct Observation: Although rich information gets collected in a diary study, it's self-reported snippets from a person's life. This means you only see what the participant records, so there could be important moments that get overlooked.

Difficult to Recruit: Finding participants who are willing and able to participate in long studies that span multiple weeks or even months can be challenging. It often takes several reminders and large incentives to keep participants engaged over long periods.

More Upfront Planning: Along the lines of recruitment difficulties, a lot of planning goes into a diary study. The tasks need to be carefully constructed and thought through to avoid any potential points of confusion. It's also good to do a dry run, testing from the participant's perspective to identify problem areas. On a positive note, the upfront planning does pay off in rich insights at the end of the study.

Longer Fielding and Analysis: It's typical for the analysis period of qualitative studies to take longer than quantitative research due to the amount of unstructured data to sift through. Since diary studies are longitudinal and can take weeks to complete fielding, the timelines tend to be pretty long compared to other methods. Again, it takes time to understand the habits and behaviors of your users, so the wait is well worth it. However, the time required to analyze diary studies will lessen over time as diary study tools advance and incorporate technology that facilitates the analysis of unstructured video, text, and picture data.

Scenarios to Use Each Methodology

As a general rule of thumb, you will want to follow the below guidelines for when to use contextual inquiry vs. a diary study.

Contextual inquiry is best for: • Understanding complex processes in detail • Mapping processes in which the context plays a key role• When it's vital to question behaviors as they occur• When you have a group of experts or power users

Diary studies are best for: • Understanding behaviors over an extended period• Gauging how customers adjust to and use new products• When the general public easily understands your product

Say you want to understand how a doctor records his notes from patient visits throughout the day. You have an idea for an app that will massively reduce the amount of time the administrative work takes and reduces potential clerical errors. You need to understand the normal daily processes doctors go through and how the various processes all weave together to achieve daily goals. Not only are the processes important, but the ancillary tools used to support the end goal are also significant. In this scenario, a contextual inquiry would be the best solution. A small sample of doctors would be observed throughout their regular shift. The researcher would be looking to interrogate how they currently complete these tasks for opportunities to improve their app's value proposition.

In another scenario, let's say you want to understand the typical usage of a new household cleaning appliance. You want to understand the triggers for using the device, the actual cleaning process, and the post-clean process. All of this information can be used to improve the product's design, instruction manual, and feature set before launch. For this scenario, a diary study would be the better choice. This way, users can get used to having a new product in their homes and get into a routine. Data collected over a few weeks will provide much richer insights than having only one session with users since they will have time to adjust to using a new product. There are many possible outcomes from the research, including an improved instruction manual based on real-life usage, better messaging from an understanding of triggers and how users communicate them, or adjustments to the placement of buttons or icons to make the user experience more intuitive.

While both scenarios include situations where users are completing everyday tasks, there are differences in the level of detail needed and the requirement for direct questioning. The doctor's process will likely be more complex, involving many supporting processes and variations. In contrast, the cleaning appliance will be more familiar to users, and the research needed is more specific.

Conclusion

To conclude, there is a time and a place for both contextual inquiry and diary studies. While diary studies are used more often, contextual inquiry can be a powerful tool to really understand your users, especially for highly complex products and processes. When designing a study, it's essential to consider the objectives to determine which methodology is most appropriate.

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