A Comparison Between Field User Research Methods in a Redesign Context : A Comparison Between Field User Research Methods in a Redesign Context

As aging softwares can require a redesign to keep up with competitors or interaction trends, usability practitioners are challenged with choosing methods for usability evaluation and user research. In this case study two common, yet different, methods - Field Usability Testing and Contextual Inquiry - were studied by applying both to the same real-life redesign case. The data was analysed by performing a thematic analysis on the usability problems and breakdowns respectively, as well as letting HCI master students do design work with the data and comparing the different design ideas. The analyses indicated that the methods generate different kind of data, and capture different kinds of issues. Contextual Inquiry seem preferable regarding determining high level user goals, defining missing features, and understanding the intentions behind actions. Field Usability Testing, on the other hand, is efficient in identifying problems with visual- and interaction design, and a decent tool to evaluate any new features designed from Contextual Inquiry data