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Contextual design: design for life (2nd ed.)
Holtzblatt K., Beyer H., Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Francisco, CA, 2016. 530 pp. Type: Book (978-0-128008-94-2)
Date Reviewed: Apr 6 2018

The methodology of contextual design was first introduced in 1992, and it looks at software system design from a broader perspective than is usually done in requirements gathering and design. This book is a second edition, which focuses on a revised version of the idea of contextual design. The idea of embedding a system into the user’s life (called design for life in the book) looks at seamlessly switching into and out of the system as a day in the life unfolds. It is also important today where one usually accesses the same application from multiple devices (phone, desktop, tablet, and so on) even for the same task. How to approach design from these perspectives is fascinating. The key driving principles of this approach, according to the book, are user-centered design, design for life, immersion, design by humans, and so on.

Part 1 of the book, covering four chapters--“Introduction,” “User Data Drives Design,” “Principles of Contextual Enquiry,” and “The Interpretation Session”--provides a window into this fascinating world and introduces many of the key ideas. The key components of the approach are introduced as context, partnership, interpretation, and focus. The task of tour planning is used as the running example across the book, providing continuity.

Part 2, “Revealing the World,” is spread over four chapters and introduces how to move from the user data collected into creating models to capture what is needed. Affinity diagrams are introduced to visualize and organize the various notes prepared by different team members in the data collection phase. Various models like the day in the life model, identity model, relationship model, collaboration model, and so on are introduced and compared with traditional conceptual design models. Lots of detailing of each stage is done, explaining recommended ways of carrying out every activity to achieve the best results. This will be useful for those who are using this book as a practice guide. There are templates, guidelines, and so on.

Part 3 “Reinventing Life: Ideation with User Data,” has three chapters looking at how to identify innovations in the process, visioning, and creating a design. Wall walk is introduced as a way to move from data to design.

Part 4 is about product design in detail and has four chapters. Aspects like story boarding, user environment design, and interaction patterns are covered in separate chapters. Interaction patterns provide a way to characterize the user interface expectations and constraints at a level higher than user interface design.

Part 5, “Making It Real,” wraps up the book, moving the design into reality. The four chapters in this part deal with validating the design with users, prototype design and feedback, prioritization and rollout, and project planning and execution. Implementation is not given much attention, perhaps due to technology dependence. The conclusion chapter summarizes the key elements of contextual design in a reflective way and shares the caveats and the excitement.

Overall, I found the book an interesting read, focusing on requirements gathering and design, the most critical stages in the software design life cycle. The layout is comfortable for reading, although it makes the book a bit too lengthy. Key points in every section are highlighted for easy reference. The idea of clearly bringing the user into the limelight at every stage, with clear roles, is interesting. Another important lesson is of capturing the requirements by observing the user in his natural work environment, with less focus on formal question-answering or reading documentation.

Using a domain like tour planning to cover all topics, a good idea from one angle, also seemed to be a weak point since many concepts were hard to visualize in this domain. One aspect that I did not feel comfortable with was the massive detailing of each stage, even suggesting what color pen to use for denoting a certain kind of theme. This often took away from the big picture, unless one is actually in the midst of such an exercise, perhaps. A balance between the main concepts, use of multiple running examples, and separating the details of how to realize a task versus the what and how of the task would, in my opinion, make the book easier to follow for a wider audience.

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Reviewer:  M Sasikumar Review #: CR145955 (1806-0282)
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