Context of Use

Published Jun 13, 2022Updated Oct 26, 2023
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The context of use describes the environment and conditions under which a product or design will be used.

User experience (UX) design considers the entire experience around a product or service, taking into account the user’s emotional state, the context of use or environment, and the designed system or artifact.

A Venn diagram of the intersection of three circles: Context, User, and System, with User Experience (UX) at the center.

Contextual research methods, such as field studies and diary studies, can provide a deeper understanding of how a design is used in context and ensure that research has high ecological validity or an accurate understanding of how users behave naturally (source: Nielsen Norman Group).

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