In a case study of the development of three electronic consumer products, we traced the origins of usability issues. Based on the data collected, an initial, explanatory framework was induced of important drivers of usability in product design. We conclude that – while usability methods mostly focus on gaining knowledge about users and usability issues – in many instances the primary cause of usability problems seems to be a lack of design freedom to implement usability-improving design changes. In addition, the organisational context seemed to influence the design process considerably. Thus, it can be concluded that to conduct user-centred design effectively, the design process should be considered holistically and the organisational context should be taken into account.

Providing online design education offers a unique opportunity for learning, by providing high quality learning experiences to distributed audiences for free. It has its challenges as well, particularly when the aim is use ‘active learning’ strategies (Biggs & Tang, 2011), which are necessary when teaching design. In this paper, we report on the development of one of the first massive open online courses (MOOC) in the field of product design. We provide insight into the way the course was designed to stimulate active learning, highlighting the tools that were developed to engage students in a mode of experiential learning (Kolb, 1984). We present the results of the course evaluation, through (post-course) surveys and interviews, focusing on the way the newly developed active learning tools were experienced by the students. We found that experiential learning strategies are applicable to the MOOC context, and that dedicated didactic tools were evaluated more positively in terms of stimulating reflection, motivation and learning that conventional ones. We conclude with an analysis of the outlook on future developments for online design education.