352,253 research outputs found
Culture-based artefacts to inform ICT design: foundations and practice
Cultural aspects frame our perception of the world and direct the many different ways people interact with things in it. For this reason, these aspects should be considered when designing technology with the purpose to positively impact people in a community. In this paper, we revisit the foundations of culture aiming to bring this concept in dialogue with design. To inform design with cultural aspects, we model reality in three levels of formality: informal, formal, and technical, and subscribe to a systemic vision that considers the technical solution as part of a more complex social system in which people live and interact. In this paper, we instantiate this theoretical and methodological view by presenting two case studies of technology design in which culture-based artefacts were employed to inform the design process. We claim that as important as including issues related to culture in the ICT design agendaâfrom the conception to the development, evaluation, and adoption of a technologyâis the need to support the design process with adequate artefacts that help identifying cultural aspects within communities and translating them into sociotechnical requirements. We argue that a culturally informed perspective on design can go beyond an informative analysis, and can be integrated with the theoretical and methodological framework used to support design, throughout the entire design process
Linking an integrated framework with appropriate methods for measuring QoE
Quality of Experience (QoE) has recently gained recognition for being an important determinant of the success of new technologies. Despite the growing interest in QoE, research into this area is still fragmented. Similar - but separate - efforts are being carried out in technical as well as user oriented research domains, which are rarely communicating with each other. In this paper, we take a multidisciplinary approach and review both user oriented and technical definitions on Quality of Experience (including the related concept of User Experience). We propose a detailed and comprehensive framework that integrates both perspectives. Finally, we take a first step at linking methods for measuring QoE with this framework
Interactive situation modelling in knowledge intensive domains
Interactive Situation Modelling (ISM) method, a semi-methodological approach, is proposed to tackle issues associated with modelling complex knowledge intensive domains, which cannot be easily modelled using traditional approaches. This paper presents the background and implementation of ISM within a complex domain, where synthesizing knowledge from various sources is critical, and is based on the principles of ethnography within a constructivist framework. Although the motivation for the reported work comes from the application presented in the paper, the actual scope of the paper covers a wide range of issues related to modelling complex systems. The author firstly reviews approaches used for modelling knowledge intensive domains, preceded by a brief discussion about two main issues: symmetry of ignorance and system behaviour, which are often confronted when applying modelling approaches to business domains. The ISM process is then characterized and critiqued with lessons from an exemplar presented to illustrate its effectiveness
Crazy ideas or creative probes?: presenting critical artefacts to stakeholders to develop innovative product ideas
A number of design practices derive from and develop the notion of critical theory. Notable developers of such âcritical design practicesâ are Dunne & Raby with âcritical designâ, Sengers and colleagues at Cornell University's Culturally Embedded Computing Group with âreflective designâ, and Agre with âcritical technical practiceâ within artificial intelligence research. And there are an increasing number of designers who, whilst not specifically explicating their theoretical ancestry, include critical elements in their products.
The reflection afforded by the products of critical design is generally seen as its endpoint. However I have used this reflection instrumentally within human-centred design activities. âCritical artefactsâ have proved more useful as tools than direct questioning techniques; in particular as a way of enabling stakeholders to
engage with novel situations and consequently engage in creative thinking about future possibilities.
This paper begins with a review of critical design practices. Two case studies are then detailed demonstrating my approach. A discussion of the commonalities and differences between critical design practices follows noting their relationship to critical social theory and the relationship of my work to them. Finally further research to develop generalisable methods is outlined.</p
Tensions and paradoxes in electronic patient record research: a systematic literature review using the meta-narrative method
Background: The extensive and rapidly expanding research literature on electronic patient records (EPRs) presents challenges to systematic reviewers. This literature is heterogeneous and at times conflicting, not least because it covers multiple research traditions with different underlying philosophical assumptions and methodological approaches.
Aim: To map, interpret and critique the range of concepts, theories, methods and empirical findings on EPRs, with a particular emphasis on the implementation and use of EPR systems.
Method: Using the meta-narrative method of systematic review, and applying search strategies that took us beyond the Medline-indexed literature, we identified over 500 full-text sources. We used âconflictingâ findings to address higher-order questions about how the EPR and its implementation were differently conceptualised and studied by different communities of researchers.
Main findings: Our final synthesis included 24 previous systematic reviews and 94 additional primary studies, most of the latter from outside the biomedical literature. A number of tensions were evident, particularly in relation to: [1] the EPR (âcontainerâ or âitineraryâ); [2] the EPR user (âinformation-processerâ or âmember of socio-technical networkâ); [3] organizational context (âthe setting within which the EPR is implementedâ or âthe EPR-in-useâ); [4] clinical work (âdecision-makingâ or âsituated practiceâ); [5] the process of change (âthe logic of determinismâ or âthe logic of oppositionâ); [6] implementation success (âobjectively definedâ or âsocially negotiatedâ); and [7] complexity and scale (âthe bigger the betterâ or âsmall is beautifulâ). Findings suggest that integration of EPRs will always require human work to re-contextualize knowledge for different uses; that whilst secondary work (audit, research, billing) may be made more efficient by the EPR, primary clinical work may be made less efficient; that paper, far from being technologically obsolete, currently offers greater ecological flexibility than most forms of electronic record; and that smaller systems may sometimes be more efficient and effective than larger ones.
Conclusions: The tensions and paradoxes revealed in this study extend and challenge previous reviews and suggest that the evidence base for some EPR programs is more limited than is often assumed. We offer this paper as a preliminary contribution to a much-needed debate on this evidence and its implications, and suggest avenues for new research
A reflective characterisation of occasional user
This work revisits established user classifications and aims to characterise a historically unspecified user category, the Occasional User (OU). Three user categories, novice, intermediate and expert, have dominated the work of user interface (UI) designers, researchers and educators for decades. These categories were created to conceptualise user's needs, strategies and goals around the 80s. Since then, UI paradigm shifts, such as direct manipulation and touch, along with other advances in technology, gave new access to people with little computer knowledge. This fact produced a diversification of the existing user categories not observed in the literature review of traditional classification of users. The findings of this work include a new characterisation of the occasional user, distinguished by user's uncertainty of repetitive use of an interface and little knowledge about its functioning. In addition, the specification of the OU, together with principles and recommendations will help UI community to informatively design for users without requiring a prospective use and previous knowledge of the UI. The OU is an essential type of user to apply user-centred design approach to understand the interaction with technology as universal, accessible and transparent for the user, independently of accumulated experience and technological era that users live in
Mapping Big Data into Knowledge Space with Cognitive Cyber-Infrastructure
Big data research has attracted great attention in science, technology,
industry and society. It is developing with the evolving scientific paradigm,
the fourth industrial revolution, and the transformational innovation of
technologies. However, its nature and fundamental challenge have not been
recognized, and its own methodology has not been formed. This paper explores
and answers the following questions: What is big data? What are the basic
methods for representing, managing and analyzing big data? What is the
relationship between big data and knowledge? Can we find a mapping from big
data into knowledge space? What kind of infrastructure is required to support
not only big data management and analysis but also knowledge discovery, sharing
and management? What is the relationship between big data and science paradigm?
What is the nature and fundamental challenge of big data computing? A
multi-dimensional perspective is presented toward a methodology of big data
computing.Comment: 59 page
A Conceptual UX-aware Model of Requirements
User eXperience (UX) is becoming increasingly important for success of
software products. Yet, many companies still face various challenges in their
work with UX. Part of these challenges relate to inadequate knowledge and
awareness of UX and that current UX models are commonly not practical nor well
integrated into existing Software Engineering (SE) models and concepts.
Therefore, we present a conceptual UX-aware model of requirements for software
development practitioners. This layered model shows the interrelation between
UX and functional and quality requirements. The model is developed based on
current models of UX and software quality characteristics. Through the model we
highlight the main differences between various requirement types in particular
essentially subjective and accidentally subjective quality requirements. We
also present the result of an initial validation of the model through
interviews with 12 practitioners and researchers. Our results show that the
model can raise practitioners' knowledge and awareness of UX in particular in
relation to requirement and testing activities. It can also facilitate
UX-related communication among stakeholders with different backgrounds.Comment: 6th International Working Conference on Human-Centred Software
Engineerin
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