Collect and agree detailed information about:
- Who are the intended user
and what are their task?
(Why will they use the system? What is their experience
- What are the technical
constraints? (What types of hardware will be used in what
organisational, technical and physical environments?)
This information is an essential input to requirements and
the planning of other usability methods. It may be collected
at an early stage during planning
and feasibility, or in more detail as part of the usability
- Ensure that all factors that relate to use of the system
are identified before design work starts.
- Provide a basis for designing later usability tests
A good way to collect the information is to arrange a half-day
meeting. Invite stakeholders who have knowledge about the
intended users and usage. This may include:
- project manager
- user representative(s)
The first two are key areas. You will also need a facilitator
with experience of the method and a person to record the information
provided during the meeting.
To obtain information on the context of use, a detailed checklist
will be needed (see below).
Before the meeting
- When using a detailed checklist, to avoid prolonging the
meeting it is important to fill in advance any items that
are not contentious and highlight the issues that need to
- Provide all participants with a copy of the checklist.
At the meeting
Discuss and fill in each item on the context checklist. Try
to obtain consensus where there is uncertainty or disagreement.
If information is missing, agree how this can be obtained.
Avoid prolonged discussion of minor issues.
After the meeting
Obtain any missing information. If the information is not
easily available, arrange a field study to observe
users in their work environment.
Circulate to all participants a summary of the conclusions,
and the filled in checklist.
A description of the context of use, derived from the completed
- Introductory notes on the context of use analysis can
be found on the baseline
- Detailed information on usability context analysis and
a comprehensive checklist can be found in the Usability
Context Analysis Guide[600K]
- Introductory notes to Context of Use analysis and worksheets
in various spreadsheet formats have been produced by
- A simpler checklist can be found in the RESPECT
This is a simple technique to use when most of the information
is already known by the stakeholders.
- For the simplest systems, the context information can
be collected as part of the stakeholder
meeting, using a less structured process.
- If it is impossible to arrange a meeting, the information
can be gathered by interviewing the stakeholders or using
a questionnaire. This has the disadvantage that there is
no opportunity to establish consensus on, and commitment
to, the usage characteristics.
- In more complex situations where the information is not
studies and contextual
design may be required to collect and analyse the information.
The initial context analysis may identify gaps that can be
filled by user observation,
questionnaires, or user
participation in context
of use analysis, focus
groups or brainstorming.
This will be followed by other activities to elaborate the
user and usability requirements, such as generating scenarios
to provide examples of usage.
For a more comprehensive approach, see the book on contextual