CHI 97 Electronic Publications: Tutorials
Structured Observation: Practical methods for understanding users and their work in context
Susan M. Dray
Dray & Associates
2115 Kenwood Parkway
Minneapolis, MN 55405 USA
+1 (612) 377-1980 (voice)
+1 (612) 777-0363 (fax)
sdray@mr.net
ABSTRACT
This tutorial will focus why and how to do observations of users in their own worksite.
KEYWORDS
User-centered design, Observation, Ethnography, Contextual Inquiry, Qualitative data,
User profiles, User data collection, Usability, Tools and techniques.
© 1997 Copyright on this material is held by the authors.
INTRODUCTION
Successful information systems are those that are driven by the needs of the business
and users. Increasingly, Information Systems and business users. Increasingly,
Information Systems and business managers are realizing that this can only be achieved
by incorporating user input in the system development process. The hard part is getting
appropriate, representative information at the right point in the development cycle.
Unfortunately, many attempts to get user input are "too little, too late."
One of the most powerful ways of getting user information that can be incorporated
very early in the development process is through observation of users in their work
context. Using a variety of ethnographic methods [3,5,6], developers who already
thought they had a good idea of the users' work and needs are usually amazed at how much
they learn through observation. This is information with direct impact on design
decisions [1,2] and information that cannot be discovered any other way.
But getting the benefits of observation requires a new set of skills and tools for
developers. The overwhelmingly rich data requires methods to structure the process.
And observation is a new kind of interaction with users which developers need to
understand in order to manage it smoothly [4]. This tutorial will provide participants
with the tools to begin benefiting from this powerful technique.
CONTENT
The focus of this full-day tutorial is on how to gather information about the users
and their work in their own workplace. It focuses on how to plan for and carry out
observations of users, with a heavy emphasis on practical steps for the designer
to take. It will include a mixture of lecture, class discussion, and small group exercises.
The goal is to equip the practitioner to be able to carry out and benefit from structured
observations.
OBJECTIVES
In this tutorial, participants will :
- learn what Structured Observation techniques are
- learn how to do 4 types of Structured Observations including:
- Naturalistic Observation
- Contextual Inquiry
- Usability Roundtable
- Artifact Walkthrough
- practice doing a Structured Observation (using Naturalistic Observation)
- identify next steps for data analysis and use in design
- learn when and how to apply these tools to the software development process
AUDIENCE
This is an introductory tutorial for practitioners which would be appropriate for
Informational Systems (I/S) professionals, both programmers and managers, who are
involved in system specification and/or design and who want to understand how their
clients work in order to do a better job of matching their design to the actual work practice
and needs of their clients. Some practical experience in an organization using technology
is assumed, although it is not necessary to have done any kind of observation. This is a hands-on session which will focus on practical solutions and skills and
will provide "in the trenches" types of tools for participants to use with their
own organizations or in their own work. While we will show links to relevant academic
research from a variety of fields, the focus on the session will be on the problems faced
by I/S organizations rather than by academics. It is, therefore, more suited to
practitioners than to academics.
SELECTED REFERENCES
1. Dray, S. & Mrazek, D. A day in the life of a family: An international ethnographic
study. In D. Wixon & J. Ramey, Eds. Field Methods Casebook for Software Design.
John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
2. Dray, S. & Mrazek, D. "A day in the life:" Studying context across cultures.
In J. Nielsen & E. del Galdo, Eds. International User Interfaces. John Wiley &
Sons, 1996.
3.. Fetterman, D. Ethnography Step by Step. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1989
4. Greenbaum, J. & Kyng, M. Design at Work: Cooperative Design of Computer Systems.
Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erhlbaum, 1991.
5. Holtzblatt, K. & Beyer, H. Making Customer Centered Design Work for Teams.
Communications of the ACM, October, 1993, Vol. 36, No, 1, pp. 92-104.
6. Spradley J. The Ethnographic Interview. New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1979.
CHI 97 Electronic Publications: Tutorials
