Hi.. I did my NEA this year and I've just handed it in to be marked. My exam board was AQA but hopefully I can help. So the contexts are usually quite easy to work with, as in you can interpret them in a lot of different ways. They're mostly everyday things that you can easily get information on like outdoor living, pets etc. so I wouldn't worry too much about the contexts.
The hardest part for me was getting the right primary research. Our teacher was off for most of our NEA so we had no input for the research section. I would say that the type of research you do will vary with what you're making, so if other people in your class have done something that you don't think you need, don't worry too much about it as long as you have good quality research backing up your design process. That's not to say that you shouldn't do a lot of research, but you should know what you need and how to carry it out in the best way for your project. Try and get a lot of opinions and feedback from your client or target market. The examiners like that.
I'd also focus a LOT on the initial designs section because that will get you more marks. If you show how you progressed from an initial sketch to your final design with diagrams, annotations, prototype models etc. you'll impress the examiners. Keep referring to your client/target market and get their opinions throughout your design process. Also, when you do your evaluation, try to get actual feedback from a retailer in a shop that would ideally sell your product. Again, this is all for the AQA exam board and I'm not sure how much of it applies to yours but I hope this helped.