Contextual Inquiry (CI) is a User Centered Design approach that is one of the best methods for understanding the context in which users work. It is basically a structured field interviewing technique, based on a few core principles that differentiate it from plain journalistic interviewing. CI is a discovery process that is more like learning than testing and is best used early in the discovery phase of most software development lifecycles.

CI is used to gain an understanding into how people feel about their jobs or tasks they are performing, how they complete they're work, how they use information and how information flows through their organization. It is performed on-site on location where the user would normally use the system. This allows the interviewer to observe user behavior, ask follow-up questions and gain insights into user's reasoning in context of their work environment.