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Contextual Design : A Customer-Centered Approach to Systems Designs (Interactive Technologies) (Paperback)

by Hugh Beyer (Author), Karen Holtzblatt (Author) "Developing software has never been easy..." (more)
Key Phrases: select base configuration, consolidated work models, consolidated flow model, User Environment Design, Contextual Design, Search Links (more...)

3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
There's certainly no shortage of software design methods: most demand total allegiance, and many claim to be the only true way to delivering useful and maintainable software systems in a timely manner. Contextual Design describes another worthwhile software engineering method, one that places the user (or customer) at the forefront of the software design process from beginning to end. This method seems to be a particularly worthwhile addition to the literature.

Contextual Design begins with contextual inquiry, where software developers interview users and attempt to understand the way they work. Such "customer empathy" is central to the Contextual Design process and a total understanding of "work" within organizations is the mantra here. The book describes how, later in the process, software developers step back from the user data and do an "affinity," which is an overall analysis of hundreds (or even thousands) of individual facts. Contextual Design then explains the additional steps required to build systems using this method, including building models for flow, sequence, and artifacts, and establishing the cultural and the physical environments for a system. After getting an overview, developers consolidate these initial models, get more user input, and then design user interfaces.

This book, written in a clear, informal style without excessive jargon, reads very much like a book on business motivation. Various practitioners of Contextual Design offer short testimonials on the software design method.

Review
If necessity is the mother of invention, then if you don't know what the users need you can't invent. Karen and Hugh present a step-by-step way to uncover, understand, and use those needs. If developers are not already using techniques like those presented here, they should read this book carefully to see what they are missing.--Dan Bricklin, co-creator of VisiCalc

Hugh Beyer and Karen Holtzblatt are widely recognized as the foremost experts on contextual inquiry, and they have packed what they know into a book of both substance and intelligence. It has been a long wait but worth it. The book lucidly shows how to capture the real requirements of customers and how to tailor designs to fit their needs. If you care about your customers and want to create products they as well as want, then you need to understand contextual inquiry and contextual design. You need this book.
--Larry Constantine, Principal Consultant, Constantine & Locwood, Ltd.
Professor of Computing Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney (Australia)
Author of Constantine on Peopleware and Software for User

For many years, Beyer and Holtzblatt have been pioneers in the field of human-computer interaction, showing how the context of computer use can be (and needs to be) the central focus of analysis and design. This book conveys the understanding and wisdom that they have gained from their experience in contextual design in a form that is accessible to students and design practitioners. It will serve as a guide and handbook for the next generation of interaction designers, and as a result we can expect the usability and appropriateness of computer systems to be greatly improved.
--Terry Winograd, Stanford University -- Review

If necessity is the mother of invention, then if you don't know what the users need you can't invent. Karen and Hugh present a step-by-step way to uncover, understand, and use those needs. If developers are not already using techniques like those presented here, they should read this book carefully to see what they are missing. -- Dan Bricklinco-creator of VisiCalc

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Product Details

Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann; 1st edition (September 15, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1558604111
ISBN-13: 978-1558604117
Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #148,975 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories: (What's this?)
#8 in Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Human-Computer Interaction
#44 in Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Software Engineering > Design Tools & Techniques

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Developing software has never been easy. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
select base configuration, consolidated work models, consolidated flow model, system work model, whole work practice, consolidated cultural model, cultural model shows, whole customer population, customer work practice, new work domain, prototype interview, physical model shows, contextual design, consolidated sequence, contextual interview, new focus area, contextual techniques, consolidated models, interpretation session, entering focus, contextual inquiry, flow model shows, one focus area, unarticulated knowledge, secondary intents

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
User Environment Design, Contextual Design, Search Links, Using Data, Objects Search, Participatory Design, Peapod Pantry, Functions Functions, User Telephone Constraints

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 28 books:

Bringing Design to Software by Terry Winograd on 5 pages
Software Engineering by Gregory W. Jones in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
Requirements Engineering by Elizabeth Hull in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Software Engineering: March 25-29, 1996 Berlin, Germany (International Conference on Software Engineering//Proceedings ... Conference on Software Engineering) by IEEE in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy by Michael Polanyi in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 28 books this book cites

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Interaction Design by Jenny Preece

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About Face 2.0 by Alan Cooper

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Rapid Contextual Design by Karen Holtzblatt

Discusses:

Paper Prototyping by Carolyn Snyder

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	77% buy the item featured on this page: Contextual Design : A Customer-Centered Approach to Systems Designs (Interactive Technologies) 3.4 out of 5 stars (13) $63.94
	8% buy The Design of Everyday Things 4.2 out of 5 stars (158) $11.53
	6% buy Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition 4.7 out of 5 stars (476) $26.40
	5% buy Rapid Contextual Design: A How-to Guide to Key Techniques for User-Centered Design (Interactive Technologies) 3.7 out of 5 stars (3) $35.84

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

3.4 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide to human-centered design, March 19, 1998

By	Don Norman (don_norman@hp.com) (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews

I've been searching all over for good guides to the *process* of human-centered design as opposed to the techniques for good UI: This book is excellent on two counts

1. The principles and methods you advocate

2. The lack of competition, but this doesn't distract from the quality of the book.

There are lots of books on how to do UI, but they all concentrate upon the widgets. This is the only one I have seen that really tells you how to go out and collect customer data, and then, what to do about it. I also like the way it deals with UI design -- do it only after the analysis -- resist the temptation to start the design too soon.

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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chock full o' ideas!, December 11, 1999

By	Merryl Gross (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have to admit that it's taken me a long time to read this book. Every few pages, my brain filled with ideas as to how I could use the info in my organization!

Make sure you finish reading a section before you try to apply it. The authors do a good job of starting at a higher level, then going into more detail in following chapters. You need this detail before you go on to the next section. This is not a theoretical book; the authors have been using these techniques for years to design real, complex products. It resonates well with my experiences in software user interface design.

If you design products intended to be used by humans, you NEED this book. If everyone read this book and even *tried* to follow its principles, the products we buy and use would be vastly improved. Save the world; buy it today!

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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If only more software was designed this way!, February 19, 1999

By A Customer

The book offers a fantastic guide to project teams for creating excellent software. If any group follows the design practices prescribed by Contextual Design, their users are likely to find the resulting software actually enhances their work practice, rather than gets in their way.

The book works on the level of processes that project teams should follow to understand their users work and then to build the software to enhance that work practice. Someone wanting to focus on the level of GUI interface guidelines should look elsewhere.

What is amazing to me so far as I read and use the book is how often these authors are saying something that is not only novel but also simply right.

Great job by Holtzblatt and Beyer!

-- Joe Grant

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
I will review this product from its material standpoint and not from an implementation standpoint. The book was part of a class I took in Carnegie Mellon. Read more

Published 24 days ago by Rangaprabhu Parthasarathy

3.0 out of 5 stars Great methodology- for some things.
The authors aren't really suggesting anything new. If you can do KJ analysis, you pretty much have this methodology nailed down. Read more

Published 17 months ago by Bad Bart

1.0 out of 5 stars In how many ways can you say it...

If you've got a memory like a gold fish this might be a great book. For others this book is likely to be repetative to the extreme. Read more

Published on April 26, 2007 by T. Martin

1.0 out of 5 stars Techniques requirement
This book provided a method to gather requirement efficiently but the rest of the method should be revised.

Published on May 13, 2004 by Incerdible

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, right price
Beyer & Holtzblatt have done an excellent job describing the process of contextual design. I'm currently implementing a new company-wide business process, in conjunction with... Read more

Published on February 13, 2002 by J. Pacovich

1.0 out of 5 stars Useless
This is quite a useless book about an otherwise interesting subject. The writers give redundancy and repetition new meaning as they repeat themselves by saying the same thing over... Read more

Published on November 27, 2001 by Michael D

3.0 out of 5 stars Hard to Penetrate
I have read a lot of glowing reviews about this book but I have found that, while it is good, I think it is too dense to be great. It is a very difficult read. Read more

Published on August 21, 2001 by Chris O'Leary

5.0 out of 5 stars explains the customer's role in product design
Contextual Design explains the customer's role in product design to high-tech product teams. It gives techniques and procedures on how to integrate customers (and potential... Read more

Published on July 7, 2001 by S. Johnson

3.0 out of 5 stars At last, a strong and flexible user-centered design method
With all the talk about user-centered design, it's a relief to find a book that describes a well-defined and flexible approach to it. Read more

Published on June 20, 2001 by J. Grey

5.0 out of 5 stars a great mix of theory and practice
I have used this book both academecially and professionally. The authors cover every facet of this important phase of the design process: they tell you why CI is important,... Read more

Published on September 14, 2000

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