Contextual Inquiry

Interviews and surveys tell you what LunchLoop's subscribers say. But every tiffin starts in a cook's kitchen at dawn, and no cook will think to mention the list taped to her fridge. It is too ordinary to her. Some things you only learn by standing in the room while the work happens.

The rule

Watch the work where it happens; the workarounds are the findings.

Contextual inquiry means going to the person's real setting, watching them do the real task, and asking about it as it happens. The classic stance is master and apprentice: they are the expert in their work, and you are there to learn it, not to judge or teach.

Why go at all? Because people skip steps they find obvious, forget their own workarounds, and describe the process as it should be rather than as it is. Being there catches all three.

What to look for:

• Workarounds: paper lists, screenshots, reminders, sticky notes. Each one is a sign the product misses part of the job.
• Handoffs: where information passes between people, and where it gets lost.
• Other tools: WhatsApp, a calculator, a notebook used alongside your product.
• Real timing: when things actually happen, as opposed to when the system assumes they do.

How to run one: ask permission and explain you are there to learn; watch first; ask short questions at natural pauses ("What are you doing now? Why that way?"); take notes and, with consent, photos; and before leaving, summarise back what you understood so they can correct you.

The shortcut

Keep your notes in three columns: What they did · What they used · What surprised me. The first two are the record. The third is where design decisions come from.

Notice that the paper list is not a quirk to ignore. It is Sunita doing, by hand, a job the product should do: absorbing late changes.

Drills

Answer fast — trust the rule.

Remember

• Watch the work where it happens; the workarounds are the findings.
• Shortcut: three columns, what they did, what they used, what surprised me.
• Trap: dismissing paper lists and side channels as quirks instead of reading them as unmet needs.