The user as relational entity: Options that deeper insight into user representations opens for human-centered design
Abstract
Purpose
“User” is the lingua franca term used across IT design, often critiqued for giving a reductionist portrayal of the human relationship with technologies. The purpose of this paper is to argue that equating “user” with flesh and blood “people out there” is naïve. Not only that, it closes important options in conducting human-centered design.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conceptually elaborate a relational understanding of the user and integrate research findings on user representations found at the intersection of human-centered design and social studies of technology.
Findings
The user is best understood as a relational term that bridges between people out there and renditions of them relevant for design. A distinction between “user representations” and “engaged use” is a key distinction to clarify this further. Research to date demonstrates that R & D organizations have a wide range of user representations and positioning human-centered design to these would advance its likely yield.
Research limitations/implications
The strategic positioning of user studies and other human-centered design within R & D organizations is a growing research area that merits further research.
Practical implications
Descriptions of users would benefit from being more strategic in order to become viable amidst other design concerns. This can be aided by, for instance, visualizing the “users” that different fractions in the company rely on and compare these to the users indicated by human-centered design.
Originality/value
The paper makes an original reconceptualization of the user and integrates literature on user representations to open new options for conducting human-centered design.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their extremely insightful reviews. The authors acknowledge funding from Academy of Finland (User Innovation Pathways to Utility, Research Project No. 13138187) and the Emil Aaltonen Foundation (User Innovation Communities Research Project).
Citation
Hyysalo, S. and Johnson, M. (2015), "The user as relational entity: Options that deeper insight into user representations opens for human-centered design", Information Technology & People, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 72-89. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-01-2014-0011
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited