ABSTRACT
Contextual Design (CD; for an introduction to all the steps of CD, see Beyer & Holtzblatt, 1998) is a customer-centered design process that takes a cross-functional team from collecting data about users in the field, through interpretation and consolidation of that data, to the design of product concepts and a tested product structure. Over the last 18 years, the industry has moved from using an engineering-driven requirements and design process to a more user-centered process. Many now recognize that the best way to define the right product, business process, website, or other system is to involve users and user data at every step. CD has been used in companies and taught in universities all over the world, along with other user-centered design processes. Today, enlightened product companies and IT organizations know that successful projects and user adoption come from using user-centered design processes.
