User-design Research

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the state of research and theory in the area of user design in instructional and informational sciences. In recent decades the importance of the learner and user has increased considerably. However, a comprehensive consideration of the underlying theories that contribute to user design as a construct, as well as a careful explication of the research that contributes to our understanding of engaging users, is currently lacking in the literature. This is particularly the case in the educational technology literature. Traditionally, the quest for and attainment of knowledge have been restricted, for various reasons, to those select few in the upper echelons of society. And this is surely the case within instructional design thoroughly steeped in jargon and special techniques for taking best advantage of the findings of instructional science. Academics conduct research to gain deeper knowledge and understanding of the powerless majority of society to compel that majority to utilize the results of the research through products that are unveiled to the users. However, the users of this expert-conducted and designed research have had little say about the products with which they were presented. This has led to many innovations being less than acceptable or usable and rarely effectively implemented. The instructional sciences have not been exempt from this type of one-sided, often-unsuccessful diffusion of innovation. The experts’ and practitioners’ frustrations with the lack of relevant useful results have led to more collaborative efforts to design, develop, implement, and benefit from research, processes, and products. We begin this chapter with a definition of user design and delineation between user design and other progressive archetypes such as learner-centered, user-centered, and emancipatory design models. This is followed by a discussion of the foundations of user-design research including the Scandinavian design literature and stakeholder participation. Within these related disciplines, we consider what the empirical research tells us and what gaps remain to be filled to build a robust research agenda for the user-design discipline. We then turn our attention to a brief discussion of obstacles to user design and conclude the chapter with a description of a potential research agenda and associated methods for advancing user design. Each section of this chapter begins with an explication of the specfics of the concepts and theories of the various related areas and user design. This is followed by a careful discussion of empirical evidence that helps to frame the relationship to user design and the need for further and specific research as well as a brief discussion of the methods needed to further user-design inquiry.