CX Strategic Knowledge · Quality & Research
Context is everything (and mostly ignored)
Context-aware design is table stakes, not a nice-to-have. Most teams never ask the questions.
Context is everything a customer brings to the moment of use: device, location, urgency, cognitive load, physical state. Design rarely accounts for any of it. The result is products that show the same screen to every customer regardless of what they actually need right now.
Context is broader than device. It includes lighting, motion, urgency, location, weather, cognitive load, and physical state: a person who is running, tired, or stressed. Each of these changes what a customer can process and what they need first. Design work rarely accounts for any of it.
Airline apps are the canonical failure. They show the same home screen whether the flight is in three days or thirty minutes, whether the customer is at home or past security. The journey stage changes everything about what matters. The interface changes nothing.
- What should the app show 3 days before the flight?
- What about 1 day before?
- At the airport?
- Past security?
- During boarding?
Context-aware design is not nice to have. It is table stakes.
Apply this
Reading about context is everything (and mostly ignored) is one thing. Seeing where it applies in your journey is the useful part.