User involvement in design: The four models

Abstract

User studies and user involvement in design have been heavily discussed but lacks a systematic theory, thus causing confusion for novice designers and researchers. Through extensive literature review, this paper identifies three approaches of user studies, i.e. ‘empirical studies’ which tends to ‘learn from the past’; ‘experimental studies’ which tends to ‘learn from the present’, and ‘scenario-based studies’ which tends to ‘focus on the future’. It also summarises four models of user involvement in design, i.e. designers representing users, designers consulting users, users participating in the design process, and users as designers. These syntheses will help designers and researchers understand user involvement in a more structured manner, thus making the application of the theory and practice easier.