Contextual Inquiry
Contextual inquiry is a user research method in which a researcher watches people do their real work in their own environment and asks questions as the work happens.
It combines observation with interviewing. The participant is treated as the expert and the researcher as an apprentice: the participant does their normal tasks, and the researcher watches, asks why, and checks their understanding in the moment. Hugh Beyer and Karen Holtzblatt developed the method as part of Contextual Design.
Contextual inquiry shows what people actually do, not what they say they do. It surfaces workarounds, side spreadsheets, and unwritten rules that people stop noticing and rarely mention in an interview or survey. That makes it especially useful early in a redesign, before anyone decides what to build.
How it works
Pick the work to study. Decide which tasks and which users matter most.
Go where the work happens. Visit people at their desk, on site, or over a screen share of their real setup.
Watch and ask. Have participants do real tasks, and ask what they're doing and why.
Check your interpretation. Share what you think you're seeing and let the participant correct you.
Analyze across sessions. Look for patterns, workarounds, and breakdowns, and turn them into design decisions.
