The role of user research in design process in product design education

Building product usage scenario of products, building product-user relationship, thinking like users and empathizing with users are the most frequently encountered problems in project-based studio courses in current undergraduate education of Industrial Design and Industrial Product Design departments in Turkey.In this research, undergraduate second and third year programs of Industrial Design departments of 13 different universities in Turkey are examined. Learning outcomes, contents and objectives of the product design courses are compared and contrasted. Thus the similarities and the differences are obtained. Consequently, the two main reasons for the ignorance of user research during design process are; the absence of theoretical courses about user research and the absence of practical and supportive reflection of these courses on product design studio courses. Application of these concepts in design process could be one of the solutions for current problems. As a result of this study, integration of the new methods such as; participatory design, co-design and collaborative design approaches to design process in product design education is suggested. Besides, the importance and the necessity of user participation experience are emphasized. Keywords: Design education, design process, user research, participatory design, co-design