Instructional designers for online learning can adopt a number of strategies for empathizing with users. Bootcamp Bootleg and the Design Kit both offer several techniques for gaining better understanding of users. After reviewing these, I was drawn to exploring the experience of extreme users.
There are a number of learners in the context of my work environment who are required to take online safety training but who are lacking the skills and/or tools to accomplish that easily. The most extreme examples include those who, for one reason or another, simply cannot manage the technological process and must train in-person instead.
The resources I will need for investigating such extreme users in my work context will be the toolkits mentioned above, along with internal administrative information so I can contact the extreme users for an interview.
Challenges I may face in my mission to shed light on these outliers include finding the extreme users, and finding extreme users who are willing and/or available to share their thoughts and experiences with me.
References
IDEO. (2015). Design Kit – Methods. Retrieved from http://www.designkit.org/methods
Stanford University Institute of Design. (2016). Bootcamp Bootleg. Retrieved from http://dschool-old.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/METHODCARDS-v3-slim.pdf