Digital Commons Network^™

Being User-Oriented: Convergences, Divergences, And The Potentials For Systematic Dialogue Between Disciplines And Between Researchers, Designers, And Providers, Brenda Dervin, Karen Fisher, Eric Meyers, Charles Naumer, Marilyn Ostergren, Carol Tenopir, Kreetta Askola, Louann F. Blocker, Carly Hamlett, Timothy Lepczyk, Ashley Mcconnell, Anthony Schlagel, Kelli Y. Williams, Andrew Dillon, Lorraine Normore, Tingting Lu, Shannon Hoste, Troy Elias, Peter H. Jones, Carrielynn D. Reinhard, Bethany Simunich, Donald Case, Melissa A. Gardner, Gary K. Hughes, Jennifer L. Robinette, Robert J. Trader, Granger H. Butler, Melissa D. Davis, Sarah M. Donaldson, Susan M. Finley, Betsy A. Law, Anne E. Ledford, Christina Joy Mark, Nancy R. Marshall, Krista M. Mcmanis, Jennifer Paul, Sarah F. Pratt, Latisha M. Reynolds, Kathryn P. Sexton, Roberta D. Shannon, Sara Fowdy Strange

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

The challenge this panel addresses is drawn from intersecting literature reviews and critical commentaries focusing on: 1) user studies in multiple fields; and 2) the difficulties of bringing different disciplines and perspectives to bear on user‐oriented research, design, and practice. 1

The challenge is that while we have made some progress in collaborative work, we have some distance to go to become user‐oriented in inter‐disciplinary and inter‐perspective ways. The varieties of our approaches and solutions are, as some observers suggest, an increasing cacophony. One major difficulty is that most discussions are solution‐oriented, offering arguments of this sort ‐‐ "if only …