Situated observation reveals taken-for-granted work detail
Aliases: tacit knowledge · routine work · workaround
What it is
Contextual inquiry can expose tacit work knowledge: automatized judgments, temporary marks, tool placement, handoffs, and workarounds that skilled people rarely volunteer. This is not mystical inexpressible knowledge; it is detail that becomes difficult to retrieve without its trigger and action sequence.
Why it happens
Habituation reduces explicit attention to repeated actions, so conventional interviews elicit the official process. Breakdowns, exceptions, notes, and detours make hidden premises visible. Probing those discrepancies helps experts articulate cues, but observed action still needs interpretation rather than researcher-imposed motives.
Studying it
Compare prescribed procedure, participant account, and observed sequence, sampling interruptions, exceptions, handoffs, and repair. Artifact walkthroughs, sequence maps, and counterexample probes reveal when routine changes. Compare novices and experts, shifts, or sites to separate personal preference from shared practice.
Where it stops holding
A single visit misses seasonal and rare exceptions. Participants may perform the official workflow or conceal sensitive workarounds. Taken for granted can reflect organizational coercion rather than unconscious habit, and every nonstandard action is not automatically an error or need.
Applying it
- Capture pauses, manual copying, external memory aids, and cross-tool transitions.
- Ask what happens when a step fails and what novices usually miss.
- Model prescribed work beside actual adaptations and name the constraint causing each workaround.
- Require repetition across sessions and participant fact-checking before acting on a vivid detail.