I get many variations on this question, “Are interviews the only way to build a mental model?” The answer is no, interviews are not the only way. There are many sources you can analyze, some of which are even richer than non-directed interviews. Here are some ideas. (Please comment if you have additional sources to mention.)
Rich Data Sources
- Non-Directed Interview
- Contextual Inquiry
- Ethnography
- Field Study
- Retrospective Review (with video)
Data Sources Requiring Inference/Guesswork
- Customer Feedback
- Call Center Recordings
- Diary
