Improving solutions by meeting your users where they are

[Ofers]

Method Overview

You can use contextual inquiry to gain insights into how your employees or customers interact with your ServiceNow solutions. This method allows you to observe and interview users as they perform tasks in their own environment; providing a deep understanding of how they navigate the platform, what other digital or physical tools are used and the environmental effect on the process to achieve their goal. 

Outcome

• Understanding of how your users interact with ServiceNow's capabilities
• Map of potential pain points they may encounter. 
• Identification of opportunities to improve the user experience and make it easier for users to achieve their goals. 
• Enhanced empathy with users, leading to better-informed decision-making and a more user-focused approach to platform design. 

Prerequisites

• A clear definition of the goals of the inquiry  
• Preparation of interview questions and observation tools, such as a notebook or recording device. 

Participants  

Contextual inquiry participants should be representative of the target audience of your solution and have a vested interest in the product or service you are studying. They should be willing to allow you to observe them as they perform tasks in their own environment and to answer questions about their behaviors and needs. 

You should also have a second observer (potentially remotely) taking notes so you can focus on interacting with the participant.

Materials Needed  

• Notebook or recording device  
• Interview questions 

 Process 

1. Define the purpose of the inquiry – what do you want to achieve by conducting it.
2. Identify the users and tasks to be studied, reach out to them and schedule site visits.
3. Prepare observations guide, potential follow up questions and a prioritized list of the 6-10 most important things you want to learn to ensure you’re focused.
4. Execute and observe users as they perform tasks in their own environment.
5. While observing their interactions, ask open-ended questions to gain a deeper understanding of their behaviors and needs.
6. Document observations and insights.
7. Analyze data and identify areas for improvement.

Synthesis

Use the outcomes of your contextual inquiry to identify areas of improvement for your solution. Look for patterns and trends in the data to identify pain points and areas where your users struggled. Use this information to define a list of opportunities as a base for creating improvements in the solution, as well as to prioritize the areas that are most critical to invest in.  

Learn more

Conducting Contextual Enquiry (or Site Visits) 

Using contextual inquiry in UX research