Meeting at the Crossroads: Interactivity, Technology, and Evaluation Utilization

This article is a review and integration of evaluation utilization literature with a new focus on the use of technology to increase evaluation utility. Scholarship on evaluation utilization embodies one of the major and ongoing quandaries in the evaluation profession: What constitutes usefulness and relevance to stakeholders? We think that a constructivist lens is helpful in making sense of the trajectory this literature has taken, where what is “useful” and what culminates in “use” have become much more flexible notions that are in a constant state of negotiation between evaluators and evaluation stakeholders. We posit that it may be important for evaluators who are closely engaged with stakeholders to pay greater attention to this interactivity to build a common vision of what is “useful” at that moment in time. While this is no small task, we posit that evaluators may have something to gain by exploring the wealth of digital technologies and social media tools that are available. The use of these tools in local level, participatory-oriented contexts may be valuable for encouraging interactivity, potentially encouraging learning, creativity, and ownership. This article aims to stress that integrating technology into everyday evaluation practice, where possible, may ultimately enhance evaluation usefulness and relevance.