Contextual Inquiry

How FDEs Observe | Shadowing and Contextual Inquiry to Catch the Steps Nobody Explains

Interviews get you half of how work is actually done. The other half sits in steps the people doing the work cannot explain, and only observation catches it. The second article in our FDE practice series lays out three observation methods, shadowing, contextual inquiry, and think-aloud, down to when to use each, where to sit, what to watch, and what to write. It covers Taiichi Ohno's chalk circle, how to handle the Hawthorne effect, how FDE observation differs from the as-is analysis in contract development, the FDE habit of putting a working artifact down the day after observing, and four patterns we keep finding on shop floors.