Pick-n-mix approaches to technology supply : XML as a standard “glue” linking universalised locals

We report on our experiences in a participatory design project to develop ICTs in a hospital ward working with deliberate self-harm patients. This project involves the creation and constant re-creation of sociotechnical ensembles in which XML-related technologies may come to play vital roles. The importance of these technologies arises from the aim underlying the project of creating systems that are shaped in locally meaningful ways but reach beyond their immediate context to gain wider importance. We argue that XML is well placed to play the role of "glue" that binds multiple such systems together. We analyse the implications of localised systems development for technology supply and argue that inscriptions that are evident in XML-related standards are and will be very important for the uptake of XML technologies

Interdisciplinary Object-Oriented Domain Analysis for Electronic Medical Records

The experience gained during the domain analysis for data models of electronic medical records is discussed. Topics of interest are the way in which the domain is analyzed by means of expert interviews, the observed need for parallelism in the learning process, object-oriented modeling of the results, tool support for rapid evaluation of models with an object-oriented database, and an assessment of the requirements on electronic medical records. The emphasis of this paper is to discuss the process of participatory analysis of the domain for electronic medical records in an interdisciplinary setting. Some extracts of the results of the domain analysis are presented

A Co-Design Partnership to Develop Universally Designed ICT Applications for People with Intellectual Disability

Abstract. Co-design has its roots in the Participatory Design techniques developed in Scandinavia in the 1970s. Co-design reflects a fundamental change in the traditional designer-client relationship. A key tenet of co-design is that users, as \u27experts\u27 of their own experience, become central to the design process. This reflects the role of the user at the heart of Universal Design. This paper describes an on-going co-design partnership between undergraduate ICT students and Community Partners who support individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. The aim of this work is to develop assistive technology applications and/or products which meet the requirements of the Community Partners. The core development philosophy is Universal Design. The project work forms part of the academic requirements for undergraduate assessment in computing courses and must fully meet the prescribed learning outcomes. The Community Partners initiate the process by outlining preliminary requirements for the Projects using online accessible videos. In partnership with the students they engage and participate in design, development and testing workshops throughout the lifecycle of the project. Some of the necessary preparations and agreements are described, which are required before these co-design partnerships can work for the mutual benefit of all concerned. The experiences and outcomes of completed projects are reflected upon and the potential benefits of promoting Universal Design through co-design partnerships between the ICT developers of the future and the Community Partners are considered. Examples of projects undertaken include Accessible Login and Shopping Assistant.

In pursuit of rigour and accountability in participatory design

The field of Participatory Design (PD) has greatly diversified and we see a broad spectrum of approaches and methodologies emerging. However, to foster its role in designing future interactive technologies, a discussion about accountability and rigour across this spectrum is needed. Rejecting the traditional, positivistic framework, we take inspiration from related fields such as Design Research and Action Research to develop interpretations of these concepts that are rooted in PD׳s own belief system. We argue that unlike in other fields, accountability and rigour are nuanced concepts that are delivered through debate, critique and reflection. A key prerequisite for having such debates is the availability of a language that allows designers, researchers and practitioners to construct solid arguments about the appropriateness of their stances, choices and judgements. To this end, we propose a “tool-to-think-with” that provides such a language by guiding designers, researchers and practitioners through a process of systematic reflection and critical analysis. The tool proposes four lenses to critically reflect on the nature of a PD effort: epistemology, values, stakeholders and outcomes. In a subsequent step, the coherence between the revealed features is analysed and shows whether they pull the project in the same direction or work against each other. Regardless of the flavour of PD, we argue that this coherence of features indicates the level of internal rigour of PD work and that the process of reflection and analysis provides the language to argue for it. We envision our tool to be useful at all stages of PD work: in the planning phase, as part of a reflective practice during the work, and as a means to construct knowledge and advance the field after the fact. We ground our theoretical discussions in a specific PD experience, the ECHOES project, to motivate the tool and to illustrate its workings

Examining university's student's use of social media for education

Conference Theme: The New Generation LearnersThe majority of university students worldwide use social media in their everyday life. However, the extent to which students use such online technology for educational purposes is worth exploring. This paper reports on a research that examines university students’ current and potential educational use of social media with an emphasis on students’ learning processes with social media as supportive learning tools. The research also relates students’ learning to five major claims of social media – user generated content (UGC), prosumer, co-creation, sharing, and communities. Before addressing students’ use of social media for learning, this research first examines what students do with social media in both non-academic situations and university-related educational contexts. It then examines their perceived usefulness of various social media activities for academic and non-academic contexts. Various approaches in applying social media to facilitate students' work will also be discussed in this paper.postprin

Nachvollziehbarkeit von den Anforderungen zum entwickelten System durch den Einsatz von Piktogrammen

Ein Piktogramm ist eine stilisierte bildliche Darstellung zur Informationsvermittlung. Solche graphischen Darstellungen haben i.a. eine spezifische Bedeutung für verschiedene Anwendungsbereiche (z.B. ein Halteverbotszeichen für den Straßenverkehr). Im vorliegenden Beitrag berichten wir über unsere Erfahrungen mit dem Einsatz von Techniken zur interdisziplinären Anforderungsanalyse für Krankenhausinformationssysteme und über die dabei erreichte Nachvollziehbarkeit von den Anforderungen zum entwickelten System mit ilfe des durchgängigen Einsatzes von anwendungsorientierten Piktogrammen in den verschiedenen Phasen der Modellierung bis hin zur Implementierung, wobei auch das frühzeitige Prototyping eine wichtige Rolle spielt. Die Unterstützung der Nachvollziehbarkeit durch den Einsatz von Piktogrammen in Modellierungswerkzeugen wird kurz diskutiert