Abstract
Many methods have been developed and adapted to help designers to understand, empathise with, and quantify users’ situations, through both direct user involvement and more indirect use of user data. These methods vary widely, with different goals and suited for use in different situations. However, designers often find it difficult to select the most appropriate for their needs, often leading to inappropriate method use. We therefore propose a framework to help designers to make informed decisions about methods. The framework identifies the key information needs of designers in making these decisions, based on observations, interviews, card-sorting studies and a literature review. We further discuss how the framework may be populated, giving an example and discussing key issues.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
3.7 References
Aldersey-Williams H, Bound J, Coleman R (1999) The methods lab: user research for design. Available at: www.education.edean.org/pdf/Tool039.pdf (Accessed on 7 September 2007
Baxter M (1995) Product design. Nelson Thomas, Cheltenham, UK
Boztepe S (2007) Toward a framework of product development for global markets: a uservalue-based approach. Design Studies, 28(5): 513–533
Bryman A (2004) Social research methods, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK
Clarkson PJ, Coleman R, Hosking I, Waller S (eds.) (2007) Inclusive design toolkit. Engineering Design Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. Available at: www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com (Accessed on 7 September 2007)
Coleman R, Lebbon C, Myerson J (2003) Design and empathy. In: Clarkson J, Coleman R, Keates S, Lebbon C (eds.) Inclusive design: design for the whole population. Springer, London, UK
Crilly N, Clarkson PJ (2006) The influence of consumer research on product aesthetics. In: Proceedings of the 9th International Design Conference (DESIGN 2006), Dubrovnik, Croatia
Design Council (2007) Design methods. Available at: www.designcouncil.org.uk/en/About-Design/Design-Methods (Accessed on 7 September 2007)
EDeAN (2007) Design for all education and training website. Available at: www.education.edean.org (Accessed on 10 September 2007)
Eisma R, Dickinson A, Goodman J, Mival O, Syme A, Tiwari L (2003) Mutual inspiration in the development of new technology for older people. In: Proceedings of Include 2003, Helen Hamlyn Research Centre, London, UK
Goodman J, Langdon PM, Clarkson PJ (2006a) Providing strategic user information for designers: methods and initial findings. In: Clarkson J, Langdon P, Robinson P (eds.) Designing accessible technology. Springer, London, UK
Goodman J, Langdon PM, Clarkson PJ (2006b) Equipping designers for inclusive design. Gerontechnology, 4(4): 229–233
Goodman J, Clarke S, Langdon P, Clarkson PJ (2007) Designers’ perceptions of methods of involving and understanding users. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction (UAHCI 2007), Beijing, China
Griffin A (1996) Obtaining customer needs for product development. In: Rosenau et al. (eds.) The PDMA handbook of new product development. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY, US
Hom J (1998) The usability methods toolbox. Available at: http://jthom.best.vwh.net/usability (Accessed on 3 September 2007)
IDEO (2003) IDEO method cards. IDEO, Palo Alto, CA, US
López-Mesa B, Thompson G (2003) Exploring the need for an interactive software tool for the appropriate selection of design methods. In: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED’03), Stockholm, Sweden
Stanton N, Hedge A, Brookhuis K, Salas E, Hendrick H (2005) Handbook of human factors and ergonomics methods. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, US
van Kleef E, van Trijp HCM, Luning P (2005) Consumer research in the early stages of new product development: a critical review of methods and techniques. Food Quality and Preference, 16(3): 181–201
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag London Limited
About this paper
Cite this paper
Goodman-Deane, J., Langdon, P.M., Clarke, S., Clarkson, P.J. (2008). User Involvement and User Data: A Framework to Help Designers to Select Appropriate Methods. In: Langdon, P., Clarkson, J., Robinson, P. (eds) Designing Inclusive Futures. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84800-211-1_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84800-211-1_3
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-84800-210-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-84800-211-1
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)