[IxDA Discuss] Can Contextual Design be used to define a business process

[Pawson, Mark]

Well its November and time to reorg the corporation again:)
We are looking at ways to integrate UCD with Business Development. Specifically we are looking at using methods such as K. Holtzblatt's Rapid Contextual Design to develop a  new process, rather than a product, that creates a positive user experience for customers transitioning from a legacy application to a new generation product. We are thinking of doing contextual inquiry to understand the decision process customers go through so we can identify what makes them decide to transistion, what are the pain points etc. I can almost envision this being an exciting project but then I hit a lot of grey area. Has anyone ever applied these techniques in such a fashion? Is this UCD or a Business Analyst role? Any articles or reference books on this? Any advice greatly appreciated.

Mark Pawson