The Impact of Organizational Structure on Design Practices and Outcomes: A Case Study
Loading...
Links to Files
Permanent Link
Collections
Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2022-02-10
Department
University of Baltimore. Division of Science, Information Arts, and Technologies
Program
University of Baltimore. Master of Science in Interaction Design and Information Architecture
Citation of Original Publication
Rights
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by the University of Baltimore for non-commercial research and educational purposes.
Subjects
Abstract
The way we use something impacts 1) what we are able to get out of it, 2) our
feelings about it, and 3) our willingness to continue using it. This qualitative exploratory
case study investigated the impact of an astronomy research institute’s organizational
structure on the design practices of its teams and the design outcomes of its projects.
Multiple factors impact interorganizational communications, workflows, and resource
distribution, which are the building blocks of any organizational structure. The factors in
question primarily exist on a macro level, making them a difficult subject to study, which
provides some explanation for the existing research gaps. To begin to fill these gaps, this
study’s research questions were as follows:
• How does an organization’s structure (i.e. its interorganizational
communications, workflows, and resource distribution), or lack thereof, shape the
deliverables (i.e. products and/or services) they provide and maintain?
• Further, how does this structure impact the way end-users interact with and feel
about the deliverables they make use of?
• Finally, how does this structure affect an organization’s employees (especially
user-experience designers) with their varying tasks and priorities, both in terms of
their collaborative capabilities and in terms of how they feel about their work?
The experiences of the institute’s employees and end-users were gathered and
analyzed to this end. There was overwhelming agreement that the institute’s navigation
overall was confusing and frustrating. This institute’s organizational structure creates,
contributes to, and/or exacerbates deficiencies experienced in navigation. This applies to
both the way end-users navigate their interfaces and the way employees navigate their
day-to-day workflows. Since this institute has not yet centered its users and UX design
methodology in its processes, these related challenges in navigating interorganizational
communication, resource allocation, interfaces, individual webpages, and menus persist.