INTEGRATING USABILITY TESTING IN HUMAN-CENTERED INDUSTRIAL DESIGN EDUCATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJIREV.826037Keywords:
Design Decision-Making, Human-Centered Design, Iterative Prototyping, Product Refinement, Usability Testing, User FeedbackAbstract
Human-Centered Design (HCD) is essential in Industrial Design education because students are expected to move beyond personal assumptions and incorporate user evidence into product development. However, the educational value of usability testing depends not only on gathering user feedback, but also on students’ ability to interpret evidence, prioritise usability concerns, make evidence informed design decisions, and refine physical prototypes. This study examines how usability feedback can be interpreted and translated into iterative physical prototype refinements within Human-Centered Design education. Positioning HCD as the primary design paradigm and Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) as the explanatory lens, the study conceptualises usability testing as a cycle of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation, and active experimentation through which students interpret user evidence and translate it into design action. The framework is illustrated through two student usability testing cases involving exercise equipment and a postural stability and balance support device for older users. The illustrative evaluations demonstrate how structured feedback informed prototype refinements related to ergonomic fit, dimensional suitability, structural stability, and task performance. The study contributes theoretically by conceptualising design interpretation as an interpretive link between user feedback and physical design action, and pedagogically by proposing a structured feedback-to-refinement process through which students capture feedback, interpret evidence, prioritise usability problems, implement modifications, and re-evaluate prototypes.
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