Contextual Inquiry and Card Sorting – Mobile Phonebook

Focus: To understand the patterns in which the user’s save their contact numbers
To understand the extent of the phone usage and the problems faced.
The card sort method was used to understand how the users could differentiate there, contact details from each other and recollect them.

Method:Following are the steps in which the User studies were carried out.
a) Introduction/screening questions:
1. Do you have a mobile phone?
2. Since when you have it?
3. Is it your first mobile phone?
4. May I know your education, occupation details?
5. Where do you store your contact numbers?
6. How many contact numbers you have in your mobile phone book?
7. Can I see your mobile phone?

b) Detailed questions:
1. Do you store contact numbers in your mobile phone book? How do you store them? (We go through their, pocket diary so that we would get some key points on how exactly they write down their contact details – the language in which they write or any other specifications.
2. When you had saved your first contact number in phone book?
3. Had you faced any problem at that time? if yes, who had helped you?
4. How often you store numbers in phone book?
5. Which number you have saved most recently?
6. Can you recall that number?
7. How often you receive or dial call from your mobile phone?
8. Which are the maximum dialed calls?
9. How was your experience while using new mobile phone?
10. How many features you have used from your phone?

We have a kit of 10 A4 paper sheets for next task1 paper for simple classification exercise.
5 paper for five different categories suggested by us for user, to motivate him for suggesting his own categories for phone book numbers.
4 blank paper sheets for user to write/express his own categories, ideas. c) Simple classification exercise for user.We give one blank paper to user with three columns for fruits, vegetable and extra column if needed. We write 4 vegetable names, 4 fruits names and 2 miscellaneous names on post its. We ask the user to classify all of them in three columns. So we can test his ability to understand classification.

d) We give him, few category options that he could go through and give his suggestions, regarding the same (as which are helpful for him to recollect the numbers and so on)
1. People : Close friends, Friends, Relatives, Professional contacts
2. Age: kids, teenagers, Adults and elders.
3. Frequency of calling: Once in a day, Once in a week, Once a month & Once a year
4. Colors: Red, Yellow, Blue & Green
5. Taste: Sweet (Gode), Hot (Tikhat), Bitter(Kadu), Salty (Kharat)
6. Shapes: Circle, Square, Triangle, Rectangle, Star, Heart

e) After the user performs his task of classification as per his interests, We request the user to suggest his own categories for phone book contact numbers which will help him recollect the numbers/ details easily and to use them in a better way. We even ask him, if he has any other difficulties in using his cell phone.Any other specific, details regarding the cell phone and even his pocket/ personal diaries that he accesses to use the mobile.While finishing interview, we thank user for his co-operation for this interview.