Understand
Context of Use
Mapping what must be true in a person’s day and surroundings for a task to work.
What is Context of Use?
Mapping what must be true in a person’s day and surroundings for a task to work.
What you learn
Every task depends on conditions outside your product.
When it helps
a task works in testing but fails in people’s real days.
Use it at work
- Pick one task and one person who does it.
- Map their day around it: time, place, devices, people and money.
- Mark each condition the task depends on.
- Design for the conditions that often fail.
Your output
Pick one task in your product. List what must be true in the person’s day for it to work: time, place, device, people and money.
Watch for
Designing the task as if it happens in isolation.
Related practices
Sources
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