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Communicating actionable user research for human-centered design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 April 2013

Celeste Roschuni ,
Elizabeth Goodman  and
Alice M. Agogino
Celeste Roschuni*
Affiliation:
Berkeley Institute of Design & Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Elizabeth Goodman
Affiliation:
School of Information, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Alice M. Agogino
Affiliation:
Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
*
Reprint requests to: Celeste Roschuni, 1865 Euclid Ave No. 27, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA. E-mail: celery@berkeley.edu
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Abstract

In human-centered design, user research drives design decisions by providing an understanding of end users. In practice, different people, teams, or even companies manage each step of the design process, making communication of user research results a critical activity. Based on an empirical study of current methods used by experts, this paper presents strategies for effectively communicating user research findings across organizational or corporate boundaries. To build researcher–client relationships, understand both user and client needs, and overcome institutional inertia, this paper proposes viewing user research clients as users of user research outcomes. This reframing of the crafting of communication across boundaries as a parallel internal human-centered design process we refer to as a double ethnography.

Keywords

Design CommunicationHuman-Centered DesignNew Product DevelopmentUser Research
Type
Special Issue Articles
Information
AI EDAM , Volume 27 , Issue 2: Studying and Supporting Design Communication , May 2013 , pp. 143 - 154
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

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