User Participatory Design Evaluation and Education through Design Lab

• This paper presents the possibilities of a design lab that can be used in evaluation processes for different design subjects in design education. Three student projects from different domains are studied to explore how utilizing a design lab for user involvement can affect the design process. The Design Lab is situated at Mid Sweden University and can project images, video and online materials on three walls and provide sound. Different tools to collect data are available, such as video cameras, equipment for psychophysical measurement and software for analysis. The studies show that design students can use the lab to prototype different scenarios or environments as well as to display large subjects at an appropriate scale. The study found that the Design Lab offers possibilities to involve diverse groups of users, such as people with disabilities, the elderly and even dogs, which gave the students the possibility to obtain feedback from the specific users that could provide the most valuable input.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Design (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Design (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Participation

user studies

design education

design lab

inclusion

design

design

education

pedagogik

industrial design

industridesign

human-computer interaction

människa-datorinteraktion

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)