For example, suppose you need to assess the usability of a wrench for automotive repair. Using contextual inquiry, you'd visit mechanics at auto repair shops and see how they work. You'd take in not only physical arrangements such as the location of the tool chests, or cramped conditions inside engine compartments, but also environmental concerns, such as the level of cleanliness of their hands, or the noise level in the shop, or the tight schedules imposed by their bosses. They're a partner in the design process. Once you're done with your site visit, you can assess from your notes whether you found out what you needed to know.
Contextual inquiry follows many of the same process steps as field observations or interviews.
Different considerations are kept in mind, however, with some portions of the process. For example, interviewing during a contextual inquiry study usually does not include set, broadly worded questions. Instead, the partnership between the interviewer and interviewee is used to create a dialogue, one where the interviewer can not only determine the user's opinions and experiences, but also his or her motivations and context. A lot of times, just having the interviewer around is going to make the interviewee a bit edgy. At that point, the job becomes much easier, since the users you interview will be more at ease with telling you what they really think about your product.