「必要は発明の母」だとしたら、新しいシステムを開発するには、まずユーザーが何を必要としているのかきちんと理解しなくてはならない。本書で著者カレンとヒューは、そういった潜在的な顧客の要望を掘り起こし、理解し、利用する方法を段階的に提案している。この本の手法以外のやり方で仕事をしている開発者は、絶対にこの本を買って、自分に足りないものは何か、よく気をつけて読んでみることだ。（「ビジカルク」共同開発者、ダン・ブリックリン）
顧客であるチームや組織の要望をあくまでも第一に考えると、システム開発やその手順の決め手となるのは、実際の仕事に携わる人たちから集めたデータである。本書はその観点から、ビジネスにおける顧客本位のアプローチ法を紹介した1冊だ。顧客の希望を反映させたシステム設計を目指す者にとって実りの多い、実用向きの内容である。著者は、常に顧客と一体化しソフトウェア製品や社内システムの設計に努める手法「コンテクスチュアル・デザイン」を提案している。本書を読めばその手法の根本原則が理解でき、さらに種々の問題や制約、組織の諸事情を考慮すべき場合での応用方法も身につくのだ。
『Contextual Design』は、ふだん人々が仕事上でコンピュータシステムをどう利用しているかについて詳細なデータを集め、そこから浮かび上がってくる顧客層の全体像をつかみ、顧客の仕事内容に関する知識をもとにシステムデザインを生み出し、さらに一連の既存システムを図表化してその関連性、矛盾点、冗長部分、欠落部分を具体的に表す能力を授けてくれる1冊である。
"If necessity is the mother of invention, then if you don't know what the users need you can't invent. Karen and Hugh present a step-by-step way to uncover, understand, and use those needs. If developers are not already using techniques like those presented here, they should read this book carefully to see what they are missing."
―-Dan Bricklin, co-creator of VisiCalc
"Hugh Beyer and Karen Holtzblatt are widely recognized as the foremost experts on contextual inquiry, and they have packed what they know into a book of both substance and intelligence. It has been a long wait but worth it. The book lucidly shows how to capture the real requirements of customers and how to tailor designs to fit their needs. If you care about your customers and want to create products they as well as want, then you need to understand contextual inquiry and contextual design. You need this book."
--Larry Constantine, Principal Consultant, Constantine & Locwood, Ltd.; Professor of Computing Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney (Australia); Author of Constantine on Peopleware and Software for User
"For many years, Beyer and Holtzblatt have been pioneers in the field of human-computer interaction, showing how the context of computer use can be (and needs to be) the central focus of analysis and design. This book conveys the understanding and wisdom that they have gained from their experience in contextual design in a form that is accessible to students and design practitioners. It will serve as a guide and handbook for the next generation of interaction designers, and as a result we can expect the usability and appropriateness of computer systems to be greatly improved."
--Terry Winograd, Stanford University
著者について
Hugh Beyer is a co-founder of InContext Enterprises, Inc., a firm that works with companies, coaching teams to design products, product strategies, and information systems from customer data. Hugh Beyer has pioneered the link between the customer-centered front end and object-oriented design.
Karen Holtzblatt is a co-founder of InContext Enterprises, Inc., a firm that works with companies, coaching teams to design products, product strategies, and information systems from customer data. Karen Holtzblatt developed the Contextual Inquiry field data gathering technique that forms the core of Contextual Design and is now taught and used world-wide.
