Designing situations

This paper extends the analytic framework Suchman used in Plans and Situated Actions by using it as a tool in the design of interactive, immersive environments that rely on human movement as input. We describe the historical and methodological background to Suchman's framework and the impact of her analysis on the development of HCI and related fields. We provide two examples of its use to support prototype evaluation, design reflection and generative and iterative design. Suchman's recognition that computers act on the basis of resources within their situations, just as people act in accord with the resources of theirs, broadens our focus from the design of interfaces to the design of situations within which interaction between people and computers can occur. The tool, and the methodological and theoretical commitments embedded within it, contribute to the design of emerging technologies and to current discussions about approaches to design within shifting paradigms of HCI. © ACM 2009

Designing for situations of elevated stress

This graduate thesis project examined the importance of information design in the context of problems where stressful situations can compromise the function of design solutions to communicate messages clearly and effectively

Contexts, refinement and determinism

In this paper we have been influenced by those who take an “engineering view” of the problem of designing systems, i.e. a view that is motivated by what someone designing a real system will be concerned with, and what questions will arise as they work on their design. Specifically, we have borrowed from the testing work of Hennessy, de Nicola and van Glabbeek, e.g. [13, 5, 21, 40, 39]. Here we concentrate on one fundamental part of the engineering view and where consideration of it leads. The aspects we are concerned with are computational entities in contexts, observed by users. This leads to formalising design steps that are often left informal, and that in turn gives insights into non-determinism and ultimately leads to being able to use refinement in situations where existing techniques fail

Designing livestock interventions for emergency situations in Southern Africa

This brief is a review of the research conducted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners in Lesotho, Malawi and Zambia aimed to assess the contribution of livestock to livelihoods and its role in risk management. The objective of the study was to identify the livelihood assets and strategies of households, taking into account differences between men and women and the contexts that translate household capabilities into livelihood opportunities. The study suggests that there are marked differences in ownership of productive assets, in livelihood strategies and in vulnerability between men and women. The results of the study showed that households in southern Africa are exposed to a variety of shocks with cumulative impacts that can trigger an emergency. The main factors contributing to vulnerability to food insecurity include drought, widespread crop failure, animal diseases and declining access to livestock service delivery. These factors affect all households in a community but in different ways

Using Classroom Video in Designing Open-ended Problem Situations

Teacher and teacher trainees have been introduced to practice Thailand Lesson Study incorporated Open Approach Model as the problem-solving-based teaching approach for the past two decades. The problem-solving-based teaching approach has to begin with posing open-ended problem situation in order to encourage students to solve the problem independently using their own method. Therefore, open-ended problem situation design is considered a key factor for teachers or teacher trainees to provide sufficient opportunities to students’ learning experiences in solving the problems (Inprasitha, 2017). As a result, this research was aimed to use video recordings of classroom teaching and experts’ reflection practice to analyze teacher trainees’ abilities in designing open-ended problem situations. A total of 10 teacher trainees were selected from the Department of Mathematics (English Program), Faculty of Education, Valaya Alongkorn Rajabhat University under the Royal Patronage using a purposive sampling technique. A multi-cases study survey research design was employed using a qualitative approach. There were four research instruments used, namely lesson plan, video and audio recording, field notes, and interview protocol. Data were collected using various sources such as research lesson plans, audio, and video recording as well as interviewing. The results revealed that teacher trainees utilized classroom teaching videos to support them in clarifying indecisive problem situations, revising the sequence of teaching, and modifying appropriate words used in giving the direction of the problem situations. On the other hand, the experts’ reflection video has successfully assisted them to have a better understanding of mathematical contents in problem-solving teaching approach and teacher trainees’ intention of each action in the learning activities