Dennis R. Wixon
Karen Holtzblatt
Karri-Pekka Laakso
ABSTRACT
Field Methods are a collection of tools and techniques for conducting studies of users, their tasks, and their work environments in the actual context of those environments. The promise of such methods is that they help teams design products that are both useful and usable by providing data about what people really do. Participants in this forum will address:
the origins and framework of Contextual Design
the application of field methods to task analysis
a review of ways to adapt these methods to practical constraints
a discount approach to field studies
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