{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/observe-the-workaround-where-the-work-happens",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1096",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Observe the workaround where the work happens",
  "summary": "The missing requirement may be on the sticky note beside the screen.",
  "kind": "protocol",
  "body": "With permission, observe a real task in its normal setting. Notice tools, interruptions, handoffs and unofficial workarounds. Separate what you see from your explanation, and ask about unclear decisions when interruption is safe.",
  "limits": [
    "Research presence can change work. Do not observe sensitive records, bystanders or hazardous tasks without appropriate safeguards."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "product-discovery-50"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-7BB2C88BA31E91CF"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "Contextual research observes activities in the environment where people normally perform them.",
      "source_id": "RS-7BB2C88BA31E91CF",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Observation does not prove causes or eliminate the effect of being observed.",
      "locator": "Method purpose and observation procedure."
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A workflow sounds simple in interviews but remains difficult in practice."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Research presence can change work. Do not observe sensitive records, bystanders or hazardous tasks without appropriate safeguards."
  ],
  "example": "A user copies an identifier into a private checklist because the application gives no reliable completion signal.",
  "check": "Can the design problem be explained through an observed constraint rather than an imagined user preference?",
  "steps": [
    "Agree the task, recording limits and information that must stay out of view.",
    "Record the actual sequence and surrounding constraints without coaching it into your preferred flow.",
    "Ask what the workaround accomplishes before proposing its removal."
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-7BB2C88BA31E91CF",
      "title": "Contextual research and observation",
      "url": "https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-research/contextual-research-and-observation"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1096",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1098",
      "type": "useful_with",
      "url": "/knowledge/give-the-user-a-goal-and-keep-your-instructions-out-of-the-result"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-B54B60261508AF85",
      "title": "Find the user problem before building more machinery",
      "url": "/collections/find-the-user-problem-before-building-more-machinery"
    }
  ]
}