Contextual Inquiry

A user research method in which a researcher observes and interviews a participant in their natural work or living environment while they perform their typical tasks. The researcher adopts an apprentice role, watching the participant work and asking questions to understand their actions, strategies, and challenges in context. In accessibility research, contextual inquiry reveals the actual adaptive strategies, environmental modifications, and workarounds that people with disabilities use in daily life — information that participants may not think to mention in a traditional interview because these adaptations have become second nature. The method is particularly effective for capturing the "invisible labor" of disability accommodation.