Jordan and Laura interview

Our first Contextual Inquiry included a married couple, Laura (28), and Jordan (26), who were celebrating their second anniversary in Savannah, GA. We met them outside of a crowded coffee shop during the Savannah College of Art and Design's International Fair in downtown Savannah. There we observed them interacting as a couple, and ask them a series of questions that helped us to understand them on a more personal level. As an incentive for allowing us to use them as our research subjects, we offered them a $5.00 gift certificate to Starbucks coffee.

By visually representing our notes in a diagrammatic form, we could see connections and breakdowns in the dynamics of their relationship.



Some key findings of their interview were that they have identical cell phones, sharing the same taste in technology. We observed them swapping food, which is something they said they do often to show affection, which shows us how comfortable they are in their relationship. Laura also mentioned “90% of her cell phone calls are to her husband.” This was interesting because it shows that the majority of her communication is with her husband. A key issue or breakdown we encountered, while synthesizing their information, was the “checking in” factor. We found this to be important because “checking in,” indicates work and worry, if you have to constantly check in with someone, that implies that they are worried, why do they have this constant cloud of worry over their heads? Why does calling your significant other have to be a chore? To make things worse, Jordan expressed because of these routine “check-ins,” if for some reason Laura forgets to check in with him, he will get even more worried. This makes using a cell phone a non-enjoyable experience, acting as the bridge between worry and the unknown. An intimate detail that this couple shares is that Laura finds Jordan’s personal smell comforting. When he is away this becomes and issue because she has a hard time falling asleep, due to the interruption of her “comfort zone.”


Technology they use:

• Cell phones
  
• Blackberry
  
• Laptop
  
• Computer
  

Views on Fashion:

• They are not fashionable
  
• Laura thinks Sarah Jessica Parker is a fashion role model.

The main takeaways were:

• 90% of Laura’s calls are to Jordan
• They like to eat off each others plates
• They have identical cell phones
• The say they are comfortable with technology but prefer when it is minimalist
• Newly wed connection
• Laura owns a blackberry
• Laura can watch what she wants when Jordan is gone.
• Laura feels that Sarah Jessica Parker is Classy
  

Breakdowns were:

• Jordan never uses laptop for personal reasons because he is on it all the time for work.
• They are constantly “checking in” with each other. Jordan gets upset if Laura forgets to check in even though he is worse at it than she is.
• Jordan does not like feature packed cell phones.
• Laura misses Jordan’s smell when he is gone.
• Laura can’t fall asleep when Jordan is gone.