Book review
Designing educational technologies with users
A handbook from NESTA Futurelab
Authors: Keri Facer and Ben Williamson
Review by John Harris, Director of Education, Epic
This interesting handbook takes as its starting point
the concern that developers of digital educational resources leave
end users (i.e. children) out of the design and develop process.
This was noted in last year’s DfES E-Learning Strategy Consultation
which stated that “The lack of a direct relationship between
the users and suppliers means that the products developed are less
likely to meet learners’ and teachers’ real needs.”
The handbook describes the four key strategies for co-design with
users:
1. “Ethnography and user observation” where children
are observed in their natural settings using prototypes
2. “User testing” where children and teachers are observed
trialling technologies
3. “Informant design” where children and teachers inform
design with key issues relating to their experience and help develop
early design ideas
4. “Participant design and cooperative enquiry” where
children and teachers work as part of the design team
The key benefits of working with users is that they give designers
first hand experience of their needs, users often surprise designers
with new idea and often stop them from becoming too formulaic, and
it ensures that resources are properly embedded in teaching strategies
and achieve their educational aims. For a commercial company, involving
users at an early stage mitigates the risk of costly failure because
potential barriers to success are identified and resolved before
major developments get underway.
The handbook describes some case studies where these techniques
have been used. The case studies are interesting but seem a bit
thin, in that they do not seem to be related to a full product lifecycle
(from conception to final delivery), but rather as exercises in
themselves. For example, for a Create-a-Creature project children
were observed playing commercial games like Zoo Tycoon and Impossible
Creatures, however we do not find out how this has influenced the
development of any working prototype.
Those interested in user interface and web design will be aware
these user centred design strategies have been around for some time
now. At Epic, we took issue with the DfES comments regarding the
lack of commercial suppliers’ relationship with users because
we have actively been applying these techniques to e-learning projects
for some time. Indeed, we have worked closely with Becta on National
Learning Network materials that involve the use of three of the
four strategies described above, and with great success (see
the NLN site). Becta have always rightly insisted on the user
trialling of prototypes with users. However, we have involved users
from the early stages of development, because finding out that the
design concept is weak at the prototype stage is often too late.
This has ensured that these materials are tightly focused on the
needs and expectations of the learners.
Despite the reservation about the case studies this short handbook
does provide an excellent introduction to user centred design techniques
for e-learning.
Available from: http://www.nestafuturelab.org/research/findings/handbooks/02_01.htm
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