Towards the exploration of Gender awareness in Human-centred design

The primary aim of the human-centred design (HCD) approach is to identify the user needs. However, we argue that there is a lack of understanding of, and even awareness of, gender in HCD. This approach sees gender as static and stable regarding male or female such that the implication of principles in products, systems or services appeals to one gender or another linking gender differences, and stereotypes. To illustrate this, the investigation was conducted in the context of fostering sun protection behaviour in young men. Participatory design sessions were deployed to investigate the role of gender in the HCD and how it can be used to foster sun protection behaviour. We have concluded with the development of a novel gender aware HCD approach which opens avenues for design research and practice for increasing emphasis on the influence of the designer’s own gender and their gendered perceptions in their designs

Design bugs out: a real world investigation of hospital bedside chairs and commodes

This paper was presented at the the 17th World Congress on Ergonomics (IEA’09) in August 2009, Beijing, China.Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) can affect both patients and healthcare workers. They are difficult to treat, and can complicate illnesses, cause distress, and even lead to death. HCAIs are also a huge financial burden on the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). Aiming to identify and fast-track the implementation of new technologies and design-led innovations to combat HCAIs, the UK’s Department of Health (DH), in partnership with the Purchasing and Supply Agency of the NHS and the Design Council, launched the Challenge ‘Design Bugs Out’ in September 2008. The design challenge invited teams of designers and manufacturers to redesign hospital furniture and equipment to make them easier to keep clean, and so help reduce patients’ exposure to HCAIs and improve their hospital experience. As a research partner of a winning team PearsonLloyd Design Consultancy and Kirton Healthcare Manufacturing) selected to answer this Challenge, the Human-Centred Design Institute (HCDI) at Brunel University conducted intensive design research focusing on bedside chairs and on-ward commodes. The research findings were used to inform the design process of the ward objects, towards the delivery of working prototypes in April 2009, to be displayed in a public exhibition and then taken on a national tour of selected hospitals for trial. This paper reports on the research process, aiming to extract useful information on a human-centred approach to healthcare design innovation.The Design Council, Department of Healt

The design of a mobile user interface for an interest rate calculator

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.In our search towards an interactive mobile fixed rate calculator, in this dissertation, we are interested in the human-centred design and in particularly exploring the mobile user interface design and the user experience (usability) thereof. A mobile solution will allow real time rate quotes to Relationship Executive while they are on the move or out of the office rather than a desktop application

An evaluation of the implementations and outcomes of human-centred design : a case study of Warwick Junction.

Masters in Development Studies. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College 2016.In recent years, the practice of design has moved towards human-centred design, and has been applied to a variety of fields, including development. This research provides an evaluation of the implementations and outcomes of human-centred design, using the case study of Warwick Junction in Durban, South Africa. Between 1995 and 2008, the Warwick Junction Urban Renewal Project took place, and using human-centred design introduced design interventions that improved the lives of traders in the area through consultation and participation. However, in 2008, despite the success of this initiative, this approach of human-centred design was abandoned in Warwick Junction. Drawing on available research on human-centred design as well as data collected through independent research and interviews with traders, municipal officials and designers, the implementations and outcomes of the Warwick Project are explored. This study illustrates the factors that are necessary for human-centred design to be implemented in a development context: an environment that encourages change and creative problem-solving; autonomy; observation of the end-users; and a desire to create systemic, sustainable change. With Warwick Junction as a case study, this research identified how humancentred design was used during the Warwick Project through processes such as interdisciplinary teamwork, area-based management, trader consultation and participation, prototyping of design interventions and designers fulfilling the role of facilitators. The findings suggest that if human-centred design is to be used in a development context, participation of the end-users is necessary, human-centred design must be advocated for by all parties involved, and finally, the practice of human-centred design must be continued and incorporated into common practice and policy changes in order for design interventions to be sustained beyond the implementation phase

Self-production: a human centered design process. The sustainable future of self-production through a humanistic and participatory process

Self-production is a human-centred design process, which shows how design is moving towards the management of the entire process (design, production, distribution, communication) rather than focusing exclusively on the final product. Humanities can support self-production not only upstream, as a source of inspiration for mindful projects, but also throughout the process to manage the user involvement in practices of participatory design, as well as downstream, for designing the distribution and the communication of a product in an anthropocentric way

SPATIAL SOUND SYSTEM TO AID INTERACTIVITY IN A HUMAN CENTRED DESIGN EVALUATION OF AN AIRCRAFT CABIN ENVIRONMENT

There is a lot of research towards the concept of 3D sound in virtual reality environments. With the incipient growth in the significance of designing more realistic and immersive experiences for a Human Centred Design (HCD) approach, sound perception is believed to add an interactive element in maximizing the human perspective. In this context, the concept of an audio-visual interaction model between a passenger and a crew member in an immersive aircraft cabin environment is studied and presented in this paper. The study focuses on the design and usability of spatial sources as an interactive component in a regional aircraft cabin design for Human in the Loop evaluation. Sound sources are placed among the virtual manikins acting as passengers with the aim of building a realistic virtual environment for the user enacting the role of a crew member. The crew member, while walking throughthe cabin can orient and identify the position of the sound source inside the immersive Cabin environment. We review the 3D sound approaches and cues for sound spatialization in a virtual environment and propose that audio-visual interactivity aids the immersive Human centred design analysis

The Importance of Gender-Aware Design in Digital Health Wearables: A Co-design Study Fostering Sun Protection Behaviour in Young Men

The rise in the number of people living with long-term conditions is precipitating a shift towards the development of wearable technologies that can monitor our health remotely. This shift makes it possible to rethink the healthcare structure towards awareness and proactive prevention instead of treatment through empowering users, e.g. patients for self-management of their health. In a sector towards individual specialization and relying on personal healthcare management, design has a key role in user participation and engagement. This paper reports a co-design study that empowered the participants as designers to design human-centred interventions that foster sun protection behaviour in young men. The findings from this study show the following: 1) sun protection concepts to enhance young men's engagement in sun protection behaviour, 2) the integration of gender-aware design in digital health wearables contributes towards better user engagement in wearable technologies of the future

Quality measures for ETL processes: from goals to implementation

Extraction transformation loading (ETL) processes play an increasingly important role for the support of modern business operations. These business processes are centred around artifacts with high variability and diverse lifecycles, which correspond to key business entities. The apparent complexity of these activities has been examined through the prism of business process management, mainly focusing on functional requirements and performance optimization. However, the quality dimension has not yet been thoroughly investigated, and there is a need for a more human-centric approach to bring them closer to business-users requirements. In this paper, we take a first step towards this direction by defining a sound model for ETL process quality characteristics and quantitative measures for each characteristic, based on existing literature. Our model shows dependencies among quality characteristics and can provide the basis for subsequent analysis using goal modeling techniques. We showcase the use of goal modeling for ETL process design through a use case, where we employ the use of a goal model that includes quantitative components (i.e., indicators) for evaluation and analysis of alternative design decisions.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Students' experiences of human-centred interventions in a design education setting

International and national developments in graphic design practice have incorporated unprecedented levels of engagement with end-user clients and audiences. However, instructional graphic design courses for undergraduates have not kept pace with this trend or with associated professional practice expectations. Traditionally, graphic design practice relies on the ‘expert’, autocratic knowledge of the designer regarding the expected outcomes of the design brief. The use of co-operative tools and techniques such as human-centred design (HCD) enables the process to become a more democratic co-creation experience, where the client participants actively contribute to the development of the final design product. To prepare students for the new relationship between designers and end-users, newly developed HCD project interventions were created as part of the Communication Design modules offered in the third year Graphic Design Diploma programme at a University of Technology in South Africa. This paper reports on two human-centred interventions in different settings and involving different types of stakeholders, with a view to analysing the experiences of students as they conducted the projects to assess the viability of the HCD projects towards establishing a proposed new curriculum that incorporates aspects of HCD as a fundamental approach to graphic design practice