Steps to make Contextualized Online Research

Plan the research - Contextual research visits usually take between 1 and 3
hours. Observation is demanding, so don’t plan more than 4 one-hour visits or 2
three-hour visits in a day. Before planning any visits, work with your team to
agree which of your research questions and user groups you want to focus on.
You also need to decide what you want to observe. You can then recruit
research participants and choose research locations. As part of planning, you
also need to decide what you’ll do if there’s a problem or emergency during your
visit.

Design the visits - To get the most from a visit, think carefully about the
activities your team wants to learn about, and how best to observe them. Make
sure your approach doesn’t exclude people with disabilities or people who may
need support to use your service.
*observe silently without asking questions
*ask occasional questions
*ask participants to explain each step of an activity as they go along

Work in pairs - Contextual research works best in pairs - it’s easier and safer.
Having 2 of you there means: one of you can take notes, photos and recordings
while the other manages participants and leads the visit, one of you can watch
your equipment and bags while the other gets drinks and food, or goes to the
toilet , you can split up and observe more participants and activities more team
members get the chance to meet and learn from users first hand - but without
overwhelming participants.
Create a discussion guide - Once you’ve planned your visit, create a
‘discussion guide’. This should include: your introduction script - this tells
participants who you are, explains the research and reminds them about things
like recording the visit structure - including instructions for other researchers and
participants a planning checklist to make sure you’ll have everything you need on
the day You can use your discussion guide to: review the intended visit
structure with your team stay on track during a visit make sure multiple
researchers cover the same topics and participants have a consistent experience
maintain a record of what you do in this round of research.
Do the research before you leave - use your checklist to make sure you take
everything you’ll need check that you have the correct addresses and contact
details - share these with a colleague so they know where you’re going.

Reserve some time at the end of the session to - ask follow-up questions
about anything you observed but didn’t clearly understand. Check if there’s
anything else the participant wanted to talk about or show you.

When you’re ready to leave - make sure any personal data you’ve collected
(including anything you’ve written, photographed or recorded) is stored securely
so you can transport it safely.