Design through a clear "experiential lens": Information experience design tutorial held at 2019 ASIS&T annual meeting

Abstract

“Understanding people and their experiences of information and technology” (Abdi & Davis, 2019) is at the heart of information experience design (IXD). Where researchers may put behavioral, technological, or educational elements in the analytical crosshairs, a holistic view of information is foregrounded in IXD, recognizing that information are intrinsic to our greater experiences with the world around us. This human-centric message kicked off Information Experience Design: Activating Information Research in Practice, the full-day post-conference tutorial led by Dr. Kate Davis, University of Southern Queensland, and Dr. Elham Sayyad Abdi, University of the Pacific. Activating is an excellent descriptor, because the day flew by with non-stop discussion and hands-on design practice. Built upon the emerging domain of research and practice known as information experience, the tutorial demonstrated how incorporating design principles can bring the outcomes of information experience research into problem-solving enterprises. Information experience (IX) is defined as an emerging body of theory and research that aims to broadly illuminate subjective, contextualized human interactions and engagement with information (Bruce et al., 2014). Abdi and Davis explained how IX can be both the object of research and an overarching domain of research and practice. Although they briefly explained distinctions between IX and established spheres, such as information behavior and information practice, the tutorial emphasized methods to bring research findings into practical outcomes that improve people’s lives. Capturing a holistic view of something as broad and subjective as experience may seem to put us outside the realm of data that can be directly applied to practice – however, the tutorial presented techniques that effectively derive specific solutions to findings of information experience research. Using their own published research (Baretta, Abdi & Bruce, 2018; Davis, 2015) as case studies, Abdi and Davis demonstrated how to apply IX research findings to solve problems from IX research comes opportunities for “interventions” to improve information experiences of specific or general populations.