Toward A User-Centred Design Approach for AR Technologies in Online Higher Education

Abstract

The exploration of augmented reality’s (AR) potential in higher education teaching and learning demonstrates an impressive scope of critical inquiry. Online higher education (OHE) represents a transformation in learning practices and educational paradigms on a global scale, with a significant opportunity for the application of AR through e-learning. The overarching goal of the current study is to understand how the presence of AR applications in an OHE multimedia program impacts student learning. The current conceptual study aims to formulate design and development requirements for an AR application, aiming to understand how a user-centred design (UCD) approach could frame such a process. The overarching goal is to design AR resources which enhance student learning in multimedia education. Implementing a user-centred approach ensures that learners are taken into account from the beginning of the design process and throughout the iterative design lifecycle. The current paper presents the results from the first phase of a multi-stage research project. First, conceptually designed personas, scenario reviews, and user journey mappings were developed based on identified learner needs and AR system requirements previously identified. The results show evaluation techniques use within a UCD process while revising AR scenarios from the learner’s perspective and exploring design requirements to ensure the feasibility of the AR application. An implication of our study is to demonstrate the value of a range of evaluation techniques presented here using a user-centred design approach, which can be used to design and develop future AR and eXtended Reality (XR) technologies in educational scenarios.