A Structured Instructional Framework for Research-Based Problem Framing in Industrial Design Education: The User Research Module (URM)

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Sarışın Coşkun M.

Design and Technology Education: An International Journal, cilt.31, sa.2, ss.241-269, 2026 (Scopus)

Özet

Industrial designers actively employ systematic user research methods to gain insights into users and their contexts, thereby framing design problems in an informed manner. However, pedagogical approaches that explicitly support the development of these cognitive and methodological skills remain limited within standard industrial design curricula. User research is often introduced in an intuitive, fragmented, or solution-oriented manner, leaving students with limited opportunities to engage with research as a structured and generative design activity. This study presents the design, implementation, and pedagogical impact of the User Research Module (URM), a structured instructional framework developed to support undergraduate industrial design students in integrating systematic user research into early-stage design problem framing. The module was designed and iteratively refined using a Design-Based Research (DBR) approach and implemented over three consecutive academic years. Adopting a mixed-methods research design, data were collected from multiple sources, including student research process outputs, student evaluation surveys, and instructor reflective notes. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were examined through thematic content analysis. The findings indicate that most students entered the module with limited and superficial familiarity with user research. Through the structured and exploratory process offered by URM, students developed methodological awareness, empathetic understanding, and the ability to transform qualitative user data into structured, user-centered design problem definitions. Overall, the URM offers a pedagogically robust and transferable instructional framework. It moves user research beyond an intuitive and implicit activity, positioning it instead as a teachable, actionable, and central component of industrial design education.