Adapting participatory and agile software methods to participatory rural development

This paper presents observations from a project that combines participatory rural development methods with participatory design techniques to support a farmers’ co-operative in Madhya Pradesh, India</p

A deeply embedded sociotechnical strategy for designing ICT for development

This document is the author deposited version. You are advised to consult the publisher&apos;s version if you wish to cite from it. Published version DEARDEN, Andy and RIZVI, Haider (2009). A deeply embedded sociotechnical strategy for designing ICT for development. International journal of sociotechnology and knowledge development, 1 (4), 52-70. Repository use policy Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in SHURA to facilitate their private study or for noncommercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. Sheffield Hallam University Research Archiv

User-driven design of decision support systems for polycentric environmental resources management

Open and decentralized technologies such as the Internet provide increasing opportunities to create knowledge and deliver computer-based decision support for multiple types of users across scales. However, environmental decision support systems/tools (henceforth EDSS) are often strongly science-driven and assuming single types of decision makers, and hence poorly suited for more decentralized and polycentric decision making contexts. In such contexts, EDSS need to be tailored to meet diverse user requirements to ensure that it provides useful (relevant), usable (intuitive), and exchangeable (institutionally unobstructed) information for decision support for different types of actors. To address these issues, we present a participatory framework for designing EDSS that emphasizes a more complete understanding of the decision making structures and iterative design of the user interface. We illustrate the application of the framework through a case study within the context of water-stressed upstream/downstream communities in Lima, Peru

Engager les personnes âgées dans les équipes intergénérationnels et processus de design participatif: une revue systématique de la recherche actuelle

This paper presents the results of a systematic review of the literature (SRL) in the field of Participatory Design (PD), undertaken under the scope of LOCUS – Playful Connected Rural Territories. The project employs an ethnographically, participatory and agile approach to the process of co-designing, developing and evaluating an IoT system to support playful intergenerational engagement in exploring cultural heritage of Portuguese rural territories, by engaging inhabitants, stakeholders and visitors. The SRL aimed to understand how older adults have been integrated and engaged into technology PD teams and processes. This paper focus on the most used methodological approaches and participation methods, along with the challenges in integrating older adults and the strategies to overcome them, which are discussed in the light of project aims. / Cet article présente les résultats d'une revue systématique de la littérature dans le domaine du design participatif, effectuée dans le cadre du Projet LOCUS - Territoires ruraux connectés et ludiques. Le projet utilise une approche ethnographique, participative et agile du processus de co-design, développement et évaluation d'un système d’Internet des objets pour soutenir un engagement intergénérationnel ludique dans l'exploration du patrimoine culturel des territoires ruraux portugais, en impliquant les habitants, les parties prenantes et les visiteurs. La revue systématique de la littérature vise à comprendre comment les personnes âgées ont été intégrées et engagées dans des équipes et des processus de design participatif des technologiques. Cet article se concentre sur les approches méthodologiques et les méthodes de participation les plus utilisées, ainsi que sur les défis de l'intégration des personnes âgées et les stratégies pour les surmonter, qui sont discutés à la lumière des objectifs du projet

Co-creation for transdisciplinarity - Adoption of participatory design and agile project management in collaborative research processes

Aquest projecte doctoral explora mètodes de cocreació aplicats a la recerca transdisciplinària. En el context de la societat de la informació, la col·laboració en recerca ha crescut en popularitat entre els equips científics, sota molts enfocaments i formes. Entre aquests, la transdisciplinarietat representa un tipus específic d'activitat científica col·laborativa. La investigació transdisciplinària va més enllà de la col·laboració d'experts de diferents disciplines, ja que també pot involucrar no experts i comunitats no científiques per abordar de manera integral diferents qüestions i problemàtiques, com és el cas de la ciència ciutadana o la recerca acció. La transdisciplinarietat implica processos de recerca complexos i nous desafiaments, com la forma d'abordar la diversitat dels participants, especialment per planificar i gestionar projectes. Aquesta tesi, articulada al voltant d'un compendi de publicacions, explora fins a quin punt i en quina mesura les metodologies de cocreació poden contribuir a abordar aquests desafiaments, en diferents contextos i fases de la recerca transdisciplinària.Este proyecto de doctorado explora métodos de cocreación aplicados a la investigación transdisciplinaria. En el contexto de la sociedad de la información, la colaboración en investigación ha crecido en popularidad entre equipos científicos, bajo muchos enfoques y formas. Entre ellos, la transdisciplinariedad representa un tipo específico de actividad científica colaborativa. La investigación transdisciplinaria va más allá de la colaboración de expertos de diferentes disciplinas, ya que también puede involucrar a no expertos y comunidades no científicas para abordar de manera integral diferentes cuestiones y problemáticas, como en el caso de la ciencia ciudadana o la investigación acción. La transdisciplinariedad implica procesos de investigación complejos y nuevos desafíos, como la forma de abordar la diversidad de los participantes, especialmente para planificar y gestionar proyectos. Esta tesis explora hasta qué punto y en qué medida las metodologías de cocreación pueden contribuir a abordar estos desafíos, en diferentes contextos y fases de la investigación transdisciplinaria.Collaborative research in the network society has taken on a number of approaches and forms and has grown in popularity among scientific teams. One specific example of this is transdisciplinary research, which not only depends on the collaboration of experts from different disciplines, but also turns to non-experts and non-scientific communities of stakeholders in order to holistically address a range of different problems and issues, as is the case with citizen science and action research. Transdisciplinarity encompasses complex research processes and faces new challenges, such as how to deal with participant diversity, especially in terms of project planning and management. This doctoral thesis, founded upon a compendium of previous research, explores if and to what extent co-creation methodologies can aid in overcoming these challenges in different contexts and phases of transdisciplinary research

The role of design thinking and physical prototyping in social software engineering

Social Software Engineering (Social SE), that is SE aiming to promote positive social change, is a rapidly emerging area. Here, software and digital artefacts are seen as tools for social change, rather than end products or ‘solutions’. Moreover, Social SE requires a sustained buy-in from a range of stakeholders and end-users working in partnership with multidisciplinary software development teams often at a distance. This context poses new challenges to software engineering: it requires both an agile approach for handling uncertainties in the software development process, and the application of participatory, creative design processes to bridge the knowledge asymmetries and the geographical distances in the partnership. This paper argues for the role of design thinking in Social SE and highlights its implications for software engineering in general. It does so by reporting on the contributions that design thinking— and in particular physical design—has brought to (1) the problem space definition, (2) user requirements capture and (3) system feature design of a renewable energy forecasting system developed in partnership with a remote Scottish Island community