Context of use analysis and user research, what's the difference? I'm sure some of you have asked yourselves this, because if you translate user research literally as "usage research" then both sound pretty similar. But don't worry, I'll explain what the difference is!

What is context of use analysis?
The definition from the CPUX-UR curriculum reads:

"Context of use analysis is the "process of planning, collecting, and documenting authentic context of use information, identifying needs contained therein, and specifying resulting use requirements.""

Here, it is not enough to observe and/or interview users and then derive solutions directly from them. Collected context of use information is always subjective, i.e., it comes from a person who has been interviewed or observed.

Furthermore, in context of use analysis, we can distinguish between a classical and model-based one.

In classical context-of-use analysis, all context-of-use information is first collected systematically without any assumptions about the context of use, and only then are requirements and derivable usage requirements determined.

In model-based context of use analysis, open questions about the context of use are collected on the basis of known context of use information, existing task models, already known usage requirements, usage scenarios and/or existing prototypes. With the help of these questions, empirical information about the context of use is then obtained in a targeted manner in contextual interviews and/or observations, and the known data is completed or also corrected in the project.

What is User Research?
User Research comprises all activities during the analysis, design and usability evaluation of interactive systems, in which information about the context of use, desires, likes and dislikes, as well as usage problems in the use of interactive systems are determined in cooperation with users and subsequently the requirements contained therein are identified and usage requirements are derived.

On the whole, it can be said that context of use analysis up to the derivation of usage requirements is a central component of user research.

Source: UXQB Curriculum CPUX-UR 2016