Karen Holtzblatt

Karen Holtzblatt

Karen Holtzblatt is the visionary behind InContext’s unique user-centered design approach, Contextual Design. Karen’s combination of technological and psychological expertise provides the creative framework for developing innovative designs and design processes.

Recognized as a leader in requirements and design, Karen has pioneered transformative ideas and design approaches throughout her career. Most recently, Karen initiated the Cool Project to explore users’ experience of cool products. Her latest book, Contextual Design: Design for Life, is a complete update of the classic Contextual Design book used in universities and organizations worldwide. The book, co-authored with Contextual Design’s co-creator Hugh Beyer, incorporates the Cool Concepts into Contextual Design, as well as the new Contextual Design Experience Models and ideation techniques inspired by the Cool Concepts.

Karen introduced Contextual Inquiry, now the industry standard for gathering field data to understand how technology impacts the way people work. Contextual Inquiry and the design processes based on it created a revolutionary approach for designing products and systems based on a deep understanding of the user’s world. Contextual Inquiry forms the base of Contextual Design, InContext’s full customer-centered design process.

🗓️ Karen’s talk:
ReVision your practices: Contextual Design in a remote world