A Case for Human Values in Software Engineering

This article argues that human values – such as responsibility, transparency, creativity, and equality – are heavily under-represented in software engineering methods. Based on experiences with real-world projects with not-for-profits, we explore how human values can be integrated into existing participatory agile practices. We propose new ways of considering human values in software practice, including: the use of the Schwartz taxonomy of human values and values portraits to contextualise values definitions; the use of values as a way to capture the rationale for requirements to ensure a culture of values throughout the software lifecycle; and a simple adaptation of agile methods to include a role for a ‘critical friend’ who can champion values during decision making

Designing human-centric software artifacts with future users: a case study

The quality and quantity of participation supplied by human beings during the different phases of the design and development of a software artifact are central to studies in human-centered computing. With this paper, we have investigated on what kind of experienced people should be engaged to design a new computational artifact, when a participatory approach is adopted. We compared two approaches: the former including only future users (i.e., novices) in the design process, and the latter enlarging the community to expert users. We experimented with the design of a large software artifact, in use at the University of Bologna, engaging almost 1500 users. Statistical methodologies were employed to validate our findings. Our analysis has provided mounting evidence that expert users have contributed to the design of the artifact only by a small amount. Instead, most of the innovative initiatives have come from future users, thus surpassing some traditional limitations that tend to exclude future users from this kind of processes. We here challenge the traditional opinion that expert users provide typically a more reliable contribution in a participatory software design process, demonstrating instead that future users would be often better suited. Along this line of sense, this is the first paper, in the field of human-centric computing, that discusses the relevant question to offer to future users a larger design space, intended as a higher level of freedom given in a software design situation, demarcated by precise design constraints. In this sense, the outcome has been positiv

How much participation is enough?:a comparison of six participatory design projects in terms of outcomes

This paper considers the relationship between depth of participation (i.e., the effort and resources invested in participation) versus (tangible) outcomes. The discussion is based on experiences from six participatory research projects of different sizes and durations all taking place within a two year period and all aiming to develop new digital technologies to address an identified social need. The paper asks the fundamental question: how much participation is enough? That is, it challenges the notion that more participation is necessarily better, and, by using the experience of these six projects, it asks whether a more light touch or 'lean' participatory process can still achieve good outcomes, but at reduced cost. The paper concludes that participatory design researchers could consider 'agile' principles from the software development field as one way to streamline participatory processes

Amplifying Quiet Voices: Challenges and Opportunities for Participatory Design at an Urban Scale

Many Smart City projects are beginning to consider the role of citizens. However, current methods for engaging urban populations in participatory design activities are somewhat limited. In this paper, we describe an approach taken to empower socially disadvantaged citizens, using a variety of both social and technological tools, in a smart city project. Through analysing the nature of citizens’ concerns and proposed solutions, we explore the benefits of our approach, arguing that engaging citizens can uncover hyper-local concerns that provide a foundation for finding solutions to address citizen concerns. By reflecting on our approach, we identify four key challenges to utilising participatory design at an urban scale; balancing scale with the personal, who has control of the process, who is participating and integrating citizen-led work with local authorities. By addressing these challenges, we will be able to truly engage citizens as collaborators in co-designing their city

Participatory Design as the Temporal Flow of Coalescing Participatory Lines

This paper argues that the existing literature on participatory design (PD) tends to focus on frontstage design interactions (workshops, participants, methodologies, techniques, etc.) to facilitate PD ‘here and now’—referred to as the interactional approach. In contrast, the paper proposes to contribute to an evolving literature, referred to as the transformational approach, that takes a more longitudinal line and which attends to both the frontstage and backstage within an extended temporal frame. To do this the paper draws on the work of the social anthropologist Tim Ingold, in particular, his concept of the happening of ongoing life as a bundle of flowing lines. The paper argues that PD becomes possible when ongoing participation is conceived of as a set of corresponding (or coalescing) and conditioning lines of flow—each line with its own history, attentionality, rhythms, tempos and so forth. To illustrate what this reorientation might mean for PD the paper draws on an in-depth action research study of a PD initiative that sought to develop a digital service to address loneliness and social isolation in a rural location in the UK. The paper explores how project members, individual participants, non-governmental organisation, government representatives, evaluators and funders co-responded to each other (or not) as they engaged, or became implicated, in the PD process. The paper concludes with some practical implications of what such an Ingoldian reorientation might mean for the ongoing development of PD as a transformational methodology

A sistematic literature review about the use of Kanban in software engineering

The thesis presents a systematic literature review covering the implementation of the Kanban approach within the field of software development. The first section provides background related to the research area by describing lean software development, the Kanban method and the guidelines for undertaking such a review. The second section covers the article The kanban approach, between agility and leanness: a systematic review which is a systematic literature review of research studies on the implementation of the Kanban approach in the process of software development, published between 1990 and 2012. The purpose of the article was to illuminate the guiding principles and elements of the Kanban approach in order to increase the likelihood of implementing it successfully by defining the prime elements of Kanban and outlining the advantages and benefits of using it within IT organisations. The results of the systematic literature review are presented in the third section. The analysis was conducted following the guidelines from the first section, covering scientific writings published after 2012. The final section presents the findings of the systematic literature review and their comparison to the findings from the above-mentioned article

A sistematic literature review about the use of Kanban in software engineering

The thesis presents a systematic literature review covering the implementation of the Kanban approach within the field of software development. The first section provides background related to the research area by describing lean software development, the Kanban method and the guidelines for undertaking such a review. The second section covers the article The kanban approach, between agility and leanness: a systematic review which is a systematic literature review of research studies on the implementation of the Kanban approach in the process of software development, published between 1990 and 2012. The purpose of the article was to illuminate the guiding principles and elements of the Kanban approach in order to increase the likelihood of implementing it successfully by defining the prime elements of Kanban and outlining the advantages and benefits of using it within IT organisations. The results of the systematic literature review are presented in the third section. The analysis was conducted following the guidelines from the first section, covering scientific writings published after 2012. The final section presents the findings of the systematic literature review and their comparison to the findings from the above-mentioned article

"Arte Factus" : estudo e co-design socialmente consciente de artefatos digitais socioenativos

Orientador: Maria Cecília Calani BaranauskasTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de ComputaçãoResumo: Atualmente, a tecnologia computacional tornou-se cada vez mais pervasiva por meio de computadores de diferentes tamanhos, formas e capacidades. Mas avanços tecnológicos, embora necessários, não são suficientes para tornar a interação com tecnologia computacional mais transparente, como preconizado pela computação ubíqua. Sistemas computacionais atuais ainda exigem um vocabulário técnico de entradas e saídas para serem utilizados. No campo da Interação Humano-Computador (IHC), a adoção da teoria da cognição enativa pode lançar luz sobre um novo paradigma de interação que preenche a lacuna entre ação e percepção. Sistemas computacionais enativos são um promissor tema de pesquisa, mas seu design e avaliação ainda são pouco explorados. Além disso, sistemas enativos, como já proposto na literatura, carecem de consideração do contexto social. O objetivo desta tese de doutorado é contribuir para o design de tecnologia computacional dentro de uma abordagem da cognição enativa, além de também sensível à aspectos sociais. Portanto, esta tese investiga os conceitos de sistemas enativos e socioenativos por meio do co-design de arte interativa e instalações. Para atingir esse objetivo, é proposto um arcabouço teórico-metodológico chamado "Arte Factus" para apoiar o estudo e o co-design socialmente consciente de artefatos digitais. O arcabouço "Arte Factus" foi utilizado em três estudos de design relatados nesta tese: InterArt, InstInt e InsTime. Esses estudos envolveram a participação de 105 estudantes de graduação e pós-graduação em Ciência da Computação e Engenharia de Computação no co-design de 19 instalações. O processo envolveu o uso de tecnologia pervasiva do tipo Faça-Você-Mesmo ("Do-It-Yourself, DIY"), e algumas dessas instalações foram estudadas em oficinas de prática situada que ocorreram em cenários educacionais (escola e museu exploratório de ciências). O arcabouço "Arte Factus", como a principal contribuição desta tese de doutorado, mostrou-se eficaz no apoio ao co-design socialmente consciente de instalações interativas que materializam o conceito de artefatos digitais socioenativos. Além disso, através do estudo dos artefatos criados no contexto desta investigação, esta tese também contribui para a construção teórica do conceito de sistemas socioenativosAbstract: Currently, computational technology has become more and more pervasive with computers of different sizes, shapes, and capacities. But technological advancements, although necessary, are not enough to make the interaction with computational technology more transparent, as preconized by the ubiquitous computing. Current computational systems still require a technical vocabulary of inputs and outputs to be interacted with. Within the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), the adoption of the enactive cognition theory can shed light on a new interaction paradigm that bridges the gap between action and perception. Enactive computational systems are a promising subject of research, but their design and evaluation are still hardly explored. Furthermore, enactive systems as already proposed in the literature lack a social context consideration. The objective of this doctoral thesis is to contribute towards the design of computational technology within an enactive approach to cognition, while also being sensitive to social aspects. Therefore, this thesis investigates the concepts of enactive and socioenactive systems by enabling the co-design of interactive art installations. To achieve this objective, a theoretical-methodological framework named "Arte Factus" is proposed to support the study and socially aware co-design of digital artifacts. The "Arte Factus" framework was used in three design studies reported in this thesis: InterArt, InstInt, and InsTime. These studies involved the participation of 105 Computer Science and Computer Engineering undergraduate and graduate students in the co-design of 19 installations. The process involved the use of pervasive "Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) technology, and some of these installations were further studied in workshops of situated practice that took place in educational scenarios (school and exploratory science museum). The "Arte Factus" framework, as the main contribution of this doctoral thesis, has shown effective in supporting the socially aware co-design of interactive installations that materialize the concept of socioenactive digital artifacts. Moreover, through the study of the artifacts created in the context of this investigation, this thesis also contributes towards the theoretical construction of the concept of socioenactive systemsDoutoradoCiência da ComputaçãoDoutor em Ciência da Computação2017/06762-0FAPESPCAPE

Design for nysgjerrighet: Et virkemiddel for å fremme unge pasienters engasjement i egen helserett

For at dagens ungdom og fremtidens voksne skal kunne benytte seg av sitt fullstendige helse- og omsorgstilbud, forutsettes det at de kjenner sin helserett. Dette er et komplisert fagfelt som kan være vanskelig og tungt å tilnærme seg. Målet for denne studien er å finne ut hvordan man kan designe for nysgjerrighet. Bakgrunnen for dette er at nysgjerrighet kan fremme motivasjon til å tilegne seg ny kunnskap når interessen uteblir, og kan potensielt brukes som et strategisk virkemiddel i design. Studien forespeiler en helserettslig nettside for ungdom, hvor designet støtter brukerens nysgjerrighet og øker engasjement til å utforske og involvere seg i sin helserett. Med deltakende design og forskning gjennom design som tilnærming, har det blitt gjennomført workshoper med designaktiviteter i samarbeid med 8 deltakere fra ungdomsrådet ved Ahus. I workshopene har det blitt brukt prototyper for å utforske deltakernes opplevelse av nysgjerrighet gjennom design. Resultatene viser at et oppsiktsvekkende design som fremstår som relevant for brukeren og som skaper tillit til å kunne anvende nettsiden slik som ønsket, har potensiale til å støtte brukerens nysgjerrighet. Design for nysgjerrighet handler om å oppnå balanse mellom ulike uttrykk i designet. Denne balansen er avhengig av hvem brukerne av designet er og hva som er formålet til designet. Resultatene brukes som grunnlag for å utforme prinsipper for å designe for nysgjerrighet. Prinsippene er et bidrag til HCI-forskning og –praksis, da disse kan potensielt brukes som veiledning i fremtidige designprosjekter eller brukes videre i forskning på design for bestemte brukeropplevelser