Reducing the risk of failure?

If we don’t meaningfully consider…

 …the user and context…

…throughout the design process the design will fail
 

We can find failures in every design discipline

Architecture
Product design
Computer hardware
Information design
Graphic design
Software
Instructional Systems Technology
 

Consider the unpleasant interactions we face

Voice mail
Telemarketers
On-line shopping
Debit card machines
Tax forms

They all diminish us!
 

At base these problems are all design-related
In particular:

 They are problems of interaction with designed artifacts
 

 (Not just objects, but systems)
 

In other words, “How do we improve design experience?”

We meaningfully consider the users at the beginning, throughout, and at the conclusion of the design process.

We ask: “What is the likely effect of this action?”
 

Designing by Listening

We improve design not by doing what we think best

But, instead by learning what the situation/users/context can teach us

It’s about learning to listen!
 

Controlled Experiments vs. Situated Research

John Chris Jones’ study of dials

 versus

John Seeley Brown’s study of how technical workers communicate
 

Observations on Situated Research

Doesn’t assume or impose

Not necessarily a technical solution

Observes, understands, and enhances what is already there!
 

Designing as Learning

Situated research suggests a new view of designing

Relevant to all disciplines, but especially IST

John Chris Jones, “Design is (always) learning”
 

Implications of Designing as Learning

There are no “known” design solutions in advance

No matter how many theories, methods, or processes you have…

…you never actually know what the issues are until you begin designing!

If design problems were not ill-defined, then design would be very boring!

So, instead of seeing design as a way to solve artificially constrained problems well

We accept that design is an ever-changing process of interaction with actual contexts
 

Practically this means…

Designers’ primary job is to learn and explore:

 • Designing interventions based on what  we find
 • Observing their effectiveness in context
 • Refining them
 

Conclusion

Viewed this way design takes on a new, enhanced role:
 

  It becomes a means of mediating and improving people’s interactions with the world

Instructional Systems Technologists have a very important role to play in this!