User acceptability of new technology is directly related to the degree to which the technology satisfies the user's needs. The salience of the relationship between user needs and user acceptability is underscored by the tenets of Total Quality Management (TQM). According to TQM philosophy, the technology user is defined as the customer and the appropriate role of the research and development (R&D) community is to satisfy customer needs. But, how knowledgeable is the training technology user of his own needs? Can trainers influence the course of technology development to maximize gains from their technology investment?

Conceptually, success in this endeavor requires the training technology user to have a strategic vision of where training is going in the next 5-10-20 years. The vision needs to be translated into technology requirements for the near-, mid-, and long-term. Finally, the requirements need to be communicated to the R&D community so work is focused on the identified goals.

The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) has an effort underway to identify, prioritize, and communicate the Army training community's science and technology (S&T) requirements to the R&D community. In this paper, we discuss some of our experiences setting up this management process, interfacing with the R&D community and lessons learned. Clearly, the process requires communication between the users/customers and researchers to clarify requirements and identify useful directions for research. In addition, it is important to form alliances with users from other services, commands, and agencies. Lessons learned from our experiences so far indicate users need to be smart about what they need, be smart about science, work together, and be proactive in order to effectively manage technological change.