Abstract
This narrative review addresses emerging application of user experience (UX) design principles within education contexts, particularly science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education settings. In this review, “UX design” is employed as an umbrella term to describe design philosophies, approaches, and tools that have originated within technology product design-related fields, namely user-centered design and human-computer interaction. UX design implies commitment to user-focused approaches to product development; UX design commonly includes construction and use of specific design tools (e.g., personas, scenarios, and usage models) that synthesize and contextualize product users’ goals, needs, wants, and behaviors in memorable and empathic ways. This review not only explores implementation of UX design tools and frameworks within education settings, but also examines the methods that have used to develop and implement UX design tools from data generated with students and faculty. Findings reveal that, although nascent, current scholarship provides evidence to support use of UX design tools and approaches to promote instructional innovation and the transfer of research to promote institutional change. To advance these purposes, STEM scholarship should focus on providing methodological detail and evidence of assessment of outcomes related to UX implementation. The results further suggest that future work in this area should explore novel approaches for representing UX design tools contextually within STEM settings.
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Acknowledgments
A preliminary (i.e., work-in-progress) version of this article was published in the Proceedings of the 2017 Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Columbus, Ohio. The current article is substantially revised and expanded and is republished with permission from the ASEE.
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. DUE 1245194. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Appendix
Appendix
Author/Title | Purpose of the work | Design tool | Analytic methods | Data collection | Representation (number) | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Primary Sources (STEM Education) (8) | ||||||
Chandler (1994). The science education advisor: Applying a user centered design approach to the development of an interactive case-base pedagogical advising system | To describe the application of user centered design principles to address representational and strategic issues during the conceptual design of an AI- based science advising system for elementary teachers | User model, task model, and domain model | QC | Interviews (QUAL) | – | Demonstrations for teachers, Usability tests |
Guy (2017). Movers, Shakers, & Everyone in Between: Faculty Personas Surrounding Active Learning in the STEM Classroom | To examine STEM faculty attitudes toward active learning strategies. | Data driven personas | QC, Thematic Analysis | Modified Group Level Assessment (GLA) in an online format (QUAL) | Table (4) | – |
Lilley et al. (2012). Understanding the Student Experience Through the Use of Personas | To develop a set of distance learner personas to guide online curriculum development in a distance-delivered computer science program | Ad-hoc, data driven personas Anticipated future use of scenarios | QC | Surveys, interviews (QUAL) | Dashboard format with images and quotes (5) | Dissemination and feedback from staff and developers |
Finelli et al. (2014). Bridging the Research-to-Practice Gap: Designing an Institutional Change Plan Using Local Evidence | To use of personas to convey the Faculty stories as a way to gain administrative support for institutional change efforts | Data driven personas | – | Faculty Focus groups and classroom observation (QUAL) | Narrative with bulleted quotes and an image | Feedback from engineering faculty administrators |
Pawley (2013). “Learning from Small Numbers” of Underrepresented Students’ Stories: Discussing a Method to Learn About Institutional Structure Through Narrative | To discuss the use of personas to analyze narrative research data on marginalized groups in engineering | Anticipated future use of data driven personas | – | – | – | – |
Turns et al. (2015). Exploring the Usefulness of Personas in Engineering Education | To examine the usefulness of personas to improve learning experiences in engineering education and to translate research data to engineering education stakeholders | Data driven personas Anticipated future use of contextualized sets of data driven personas | – | – | Narrative and Dashboard | Course design sessions with faculty and graduate students |
Vorvoreanu et al. (2016). Designing for STEM Faculty: The Use of Personas for Evaluating and Improving Design | To develop STEM faculty personas to evaluate and refine the design of an interactive data analytics tool | Data driven personas, scenarios, use cases, and cognitive walk throughs | QC | Interviews (QUAL) | Narratives with images and bulleted items (Not Reported) | – |
Vyas et al. (2006) Understanding the Academic Environments: Developing Personas for Field Studies | To analyze qualitative field study data generated among academic faculty in science and medicine in order to create structured and ordered information for use in design | Data driven personas | QC using MAXQDA | “Ethnographic” methods: Interviews, diary keeping, and observations (job-shadowing) (QUAL) | Narrative with photo (unknown) | – |
Primary Sources (General Education) (12) | ||||||
Antle (2008). Child-based Personas: Need, Ability, and Experience | To assess a framework for child-user abstractions that combine theory, empirical data, and goals for child experiences that is suitable for use during the design of interactive, educational technologies for children | Data driven personas | QC (pattern analysis informed by framework) | Interviews, observations, sessions with child experts (QUAL) | Narratives with images (6) | Implement framework to develop child personas and revise |
Al-Shboul and Abrizah (2014). Information Needs: Developing Personas of Humanities Scholars | To demonstrate how personas can be used a research approach to better understand the information needs of humanities scholars | Data driven personas | QC | Interviews (QUAL) Demographics (QUAN) | Narratives with Images (4) | – |
Kahraman (2010). Using User-centered Design Approach in Course Design | To describe the adaptation of user centered design approach to improve teaching and student success in three post-secondary elective courses related to interior design | – | Content analysis | Focus groups (QUAL) | – | Student Questionnaires |
Koltay and Tancheva (2010). Personas and a User-centered Visioning Process | To develop a set of personas based on primary clients of an academic library (faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates) to inform and assess the design of the academic library’s online access platform | Data driven personas (10) | QC | Interviews (QUAL) | Combined narrative and dashboard with an image | – |
Lewis and Contrino (2016). Making the Invisible Visible: Personas and Mental Models of Distance Education Library Users | To understand gaps between users’ and designers’ mental models of digital libraries at a predominantly online university | Data driven personas | QC Empathy Maps | Chat and email transcripts, student and faculty posts (QUAL) Demographics, survey (QUAN) | Dashboard combined with narrative (4) Mental Models (4) | – |
Maness et al. (2008). Using Personas to Understand the Needs and Goals of Institutional Repository Users | To develop personas of potential institutional repository users in order to inform the design of an online repository for an academic institution | Data driven personas | LSA | Interviews (QUAL) | Narrative with image (4) | – |
Miaskiewicz et al. (2008). A Latent Semantic Analysis Methodology for The Identification and Creation of Personas | To describe a quantitative persona development methodology, based on latent semantic analysis of textual data, that is used to develop personas of institutional repository users at an academic institution | Data driven personas | LSA | Interviews (QUAL) | Narrative with image (1) | Interviews, surveys |
Sundt and Davis (2017). User Personas as a Shared Lens for Library UX check sources | To propose a lightweight, budget friendly method of persona creation for the design of library web-based services at a land grant university | Data driven personas | QC | Reference Desk transactions, chat transcriptions, surveys, usability study results (QUAL) | Bulleted templates with photos (9); pocket cards with photos (6) | Interviews, usability testing, staff feedback |
Tempelman-Kluit and Pearce (2014). Invoking the User from Data to Design | To design user-centered academic library services | Data driven personas | CA | Coded text-based online chat transcripts (QUAL> > QUAN) | Dashboard with image and quote (4) | Surveys, interviews, demographic trends |
Van Rooij (2012). Research-based Personas: Teaching Empathy in Professional Education | To employ persona development, related to the design of a website for the parents/ families of children with special needs, to teach empathy to graduate students in an instructional design program | Data driven personas | QC | Focus groups (QUAL) | Narrative (1) | Survey of parent panel |
Volentine et al. (2013). Portraits of Success: Building Personas from Scholarly Reading Patterns | To determine patterns in scholarly reading among successful young academics in the UK | Data driven personas | QC | Demographic Surveys (QUAN) Surveys (QUAL) | Narrative (3) | – |
Zaugg and Rackham (2016). Identification and Development of Patron Personas for an Academic Library | To engage communication undergraduates, as part of their coursework, in developing personas for undergraduate library patrons | Data driven personas | – | Undergraduate library assessments Observations Interviews Focus Groups “Ethnographic studies” (QUAL) Survey (QUAN) for PCA assessment | Narrative description and a quote (10) | PCA |
Secondary Sources (Methodological) (18) | ||||||
Adlin and Pruitt (2010). The Essential Persona Lifecycle | Taking into account how the user navigates software and design software to that users need | Ad-hoc and data driven personas | QC | Census data (QUAN) Interviews, focus groups (QUAL) | Narrative andDashboard (3–6 recommended) | Site Visits, dissemination |
Brickey et al. (2012). Comparing Semi-automated Clustering Methods for Persona Development | To present an empirical study comparing quantitative cluster techniques (FA/PCA, Cluster analysis, and LSA) with manual qualitative clustering by experts | Data driven personas | Comparison of FA/PCA, LSA and QC clustering techniques | Online survey responses (open ended textual and numerical responses) and online knowledge management queries (QUAN and QUAL) | – | – |
Carroll (1999). Five Reasons for Scenario Design | To motivate and present a framework for the use of scenarios during computer product design and development | Scenarios | – | – | Forward looking narrative stories | – |
Cooper (2004). The Inmates are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity | To develop a precise description of a product user and their goals for use in technology product and software design | Ad-hoc personas | – | – | Narrative with an image (3–12 recommended) | Anti-persona |
Ferreira et al. (2015) Designing Personas with Empathy Map | To assess the use of empathy maps for creating personas | Empathy Maps Data driven personas | QC | Provided descriptive scenarios | – | Surveys of student developers |
Goodwin (2008). Getting from Research to Personas: Harnessing the Power of Data | To design interactive products with a user focus | Data driven personas | QC | Interviews, Observations (QUAL) | Narratives | – |
Laurel (2003). Design Research: Methods and Perspectives | To present the idea of “qualitative design research” | Data driven personas | QC | Market research, Design research | – | – |
McGinn and Kotamraju (2008). Data-Driven Persona Development | To describe a quantitative method for persona development, based on factor analysis of a statistically significant sample of qualitative data | Data driven personas | FA QC | Task surveys (QUAN) Interviews (QUAL) | Poster with image (11) | – |
Mulder and Yaar (2007). The User is Always Right: A Practical Guide to Creating and Using Personas for The Web | To describe the development and use of personas during website design | Data driven personas | QC CA | Surveys, interviews, observations (QUAL) Usage Surveys Site traffic analyses (QUAN) | Narrative | Verify personas using log file user data and more surveys |
Norman (2004). Ad-Hoc Personas and Empathetic Focus | To describe the development and use of personas during product design | Ad-hoc personas | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | Narrative (1) | – |
Pruitt and Grudin (2003). Persona: Practice and Theory | To describe the development and use of personas for software design and evaluation | Data driven personas | QC | Market segmentation (QUAN) Market user research (QUAL) | Foundation documents with images, narratives, posters, flyers, handouts (3–6) | Dissemination Anti-persona |
Putnam (2010). Bridging the Gap Between User Experience Research and Design in Industry. An Analysis of Two Common Communication Tools: Personas and Scenarios | To understand if personas with contextual scenarios are perceived as stable, useful and effective by user experience (UX) designers with a geographically distant audience | Data-driven personas with contextual scenarios | QC | Existing survey data (QUAN) and Focus group/Interview data (QUAL) | Narrative with bulleted information and picture (3) | Research |
Rosson and Carroll (2002). Scenario-based Design | To describe how scenario-based design can be used to depict the future use of a system early in the development cycle | Scenarios | – | – | Narrative | – |
Scupin (1997). The KJ Method: A Technique for Analyzing Data Derived from Japanese Ethnology | To describe a group-based method for analyzing ethnographic data | – | QC | Ethnographic data (observations, artifacts) | – | – |
Siegel (2010). The Mystique of Numbers: Belief in Quantitative Approaches to Segmentation and Persona Development | To present a case study comparing quantitative market research segmentation and qualitative clustering of field (observational) data | Data driven personas | Market segmentation and QC | Market segmentation data (QUAN), in depth interviews and observational data (QUAL) | – | Verifying market segmentation with qualitative data |
Simmons (2006). The Usage Model: Describing Product Usage During Design and Development | To describe a usage model framework for product design and development | Usage Model Framework | – | – | – | – |
Sinha (2003). Persona Development for Information-Rich Domains | To develop personas for use in designing an online restaurant finder in the Bay Area using quantitative market data | Data driven personas | PCA | Market segmentation surveys, Market user research (QUAN) | Narrative with image and quotes (4) | Interviews, observations (QUAL) |
Tu et al. (2010). Using Cluster Analysis in Persona Development | Case study describing the development of personas used to improve online travel services using QUAN (primary) and QUAL (secondary) data | Data driven personas | CA QC | Survey (QUAN) Interviews, observations (QUAL) | Combined narrative and dashboard with an image (2) | – |
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Minichiello, A., Hood, J.R. & Harkness, D.S. Bringing User Experience Design to Bear on STEM Education: A Narrative Literature Review. Journal for STEM Educ Res 1, 7–33 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41979-018-0005-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41979-018-0005-3