Reflexões sobre o Fazer e o Compreender Pesquisa em IHC

Reflexões sobre o Fazer e o Compreender Pesquisa em IH

Envolvendo Usuários e Criando Símbolos para Programação Tangível: um Estudo de Caso com TaPrEC

INTRODUCTION: Participatory Design is an approach that is characterized by the active participation of users as part of the design team, thus reflecting their perspectives and needs in the product design. BrainDraw is a participatory technique for use in the design phase of product creation. This article investigates the use of participatory practices with elementary school teachers, aiming at the redesign of the programming blocks of TaPrEC, a tangible programming environment for children. OBJECTIVE: This work aimed at the redesign of symbols for the repetition blocks of TaPrEC involving the main stakeholders. METHOD: A Case Study in an educational space that offers activities during out-of-school hours to children was carried out using the BrainDraw technique with a group of elementary school teachers to redesign the symbols of the repetition blocks of the TaPrEC. The experimentation and evaluation of the created symbols were carried out by the same teachers and a group of elementary school children. We also applied the Self-Assessment Manikin form to assess the participants' affective responses during participatory activities. RESULTS: The results of the workshops highlight that the symbols created by the teachers have been better accepted by teachers and children. This positive acceptance may result from the fact that the participatory solutions proposed by the teachers suggest associations with everyday elements such as traffic signs and the symbol of multiplication. CONCLUSION: Participatory Design is a process that involves researchers and end-users in creating products for their use. Using this approach, we studied different symbol proposals for representing and understanding the repetition blocks of TaPrEC, a tangible programming environment, to promote a solution that had the participation of stakeholders and reached a solution that made sense to them.INTRODUÇÃO: O Design Participativo é uma abordagem que se caracteriza pela participação ativa dos usuários como parte da equipe de design, refletindo suas perspectivas e necessidades no design do produto. O BrainDraw é uma técnica participativa para uso na fase de design da criação do produto. Este artigo investiga o uso de prácticas participativas com professoras de ensino fundamental visando o redesign dos blocos de programação do TaPrEC, um ambiente de programação tangível. OBJETIVO: Este trabalho objetivou o redesign de símbolos para os blocos de repetição do ambiente TaPrEC, envolvendo as principais partes interessadas. MÉTODO: Um Estudo de Caso num espaço educacional que oferece atividades para as crianças durante o contraturno foi realizado utilizando a técnica BrainDraw com um grupo de professoras de ensino fundamental para o redesign dos símbolos dos blocos de repetição do ambiente TaPrEC. A experimentação e avaliação dos símbolos criados foram realizadas pelas mesmas professoras e um grupo de alunos de ensino fundamental. Também aplicamos o formulário da autoavaliação de emoções para avaliar a resposta afetiva dos participantes durante as atividades participativas. RESULTADOS: Os resultados das oficinas destacam que os símbolos criados pelas professoras tiveram uma melhor aceitação por parte de professoras e crianças. Esta aceitação positiva pode decorrer do fato que as soluções participativas propostas pelas professoras sugerem associações com elementos cotidianos tais como sinais de transito e o símbolo da multiplicação. CONCLUSÃO: O Design Participativo é um processo que envolve pesquisadores e usuários finais na criação de produtos para seu uso. Utilizando essa abordagem, estudamos diferentes propostas de símbolos para representar e entender os blocos de repetição do TaPrEC, um ambiente de programação tangível, para promover uma solução que contasse com a participação dos principais interessados e alcançar uma solução que fizesse sentido para eles

Energy consumption awareness in the workplace: technical artefacts and practices

Despite all technological advances in the energy research field and the ubiquitous presence of technology in all aspects of life, the lack of information is still recognized as a gap to engage people in a pro-environmental behaviour towards energy conservation. Consumption feedback is elementary to tackle this paradox, but not enough to trigger a social change. It is still necessary to motivate people in order to raise awareness effectively. This study associated the feedback provided by smart monitors with a debate tool and a tangible motivational device for building energy awareness collectively in a workplace. The analysis of the role of each technology considered assessments and interviews, and also the content of the online discussion, which encompassed more than 170 ideas for changing behaviour for around 100 issues about how the energy has been consumed. Results demonstrated that for raising energy awareness, beyond technology, it is also necessary to deal with formal and informal elements, such as institutional practices and individual’s motivation. These technical, formal, and informal levels shaped our qualitative analysis to identify elements participants considered relevant to learn and to discuss, suggesting their importance to similar initiatives that aims to raise energy awareness in a wider perspective

Thinking about Culture in iDTV Projects

Interactive Digital Television (iDTV) is a technology that has potential to mitigate economic and social difficulties related to knowledge access and digital inclusion in Brazil. Nevertheless, iDTV solutions did not yet bring anything new and disappointed most users. Thinking about social and cultural issues in iDTV applications might result in design solutions that make sense to people affected by this new communication medium. In this paper, we propose a set of questions to support designers of iDTV applications to address cultural aspects during requirement analysis in a structured way. As practical use example, we apply these questions to prospect requirements from a cultural perspec-tive for an overlaid iDTV application in the real context of a Brazilian Company’s TV show

Acessibilidade Em Ambientes Educacionais: Para Além Das Guidelines

O acesso à tecnologia não pode ser confundido com o acesso ao conhecimento mediado pela tecnologia. Este trabalho amplia o conceito de acessibilidade, ao propor que se rompam barreiras entre pessoas e computadores de modo que o sujeito passe a ser parte integrante do ambiente de construção do conhecimento. Portanto, argumentamos que é preciso avançar no entendimento da acessibilidade, possibilitando a imersão do sujeito no ambiente educacional mediado pela tecnologia. Palavras-chave Interação humano-computador; Processos de ensino/aprendizagem Acessibilidade; Design participativo Abstract The access to the technology cannot be confused with the access to the knowledge mediated by the technology. This work enlarges the accessibility concept, when proposing to break up barriers between people and computers so that the subject become integral part of the environment of knowledge construction. Therefore,we argued that it is necessary to move forward in the understanding of the accessibility, making possible the subject's immersion in the educational environment mediated by the technology. Keywords Human-computer interaction; Teaching/learning processes; Accessibility; Participative design2213-2

Acessibilidade em ambientes educacionais: para além das guidelines

O acesso à tecnologia não pode ser confundido com o acesso ao conhecimento mediado pela tecnologia. Este trabalho amplia o conceito de acessibilidade, ao propor que se rompam barreiras entre pessoas e computadores de modo que o sujeito passe a ser parte integrante do ambiente de construção do conhecimento. Portanto, argumentamos que é preciso avançar no entendimento da acessibilidade, possibilitando a imersão do sujeito no ambiente educacional mediado pela tecnologia.The access to the technology cannot be confused with the access to the knowledge mediated by the technology. This work enlarges the accessibility concept, when proposing to break up barriers between people and computers so that the subject become integral part of the environment of knowledge construction. Therefore,we argued that it is necessary to move forward in the understanding of the accessibility, making possible the subject's immersion in the educational environment mediated by the technology

Interface de usuário sob a lente de abordagens semióticas

Computational systems can be seen as complex networks of signs that can be treated semiotically in several levels. The user interface of such systems can be understood as a "representamen" for the system. Evaluating interfaces in this perspective requires an analysis of the signs present in the interface, relative to the user's language and his/her processes of signification. In this paper we revisit the main approaches to the concept of interface and human-computer interaction, and explore the potential of the semiotic perspective in the understanding and analysis of user interfaces. We argue that Semiotics provides us with an accurate vocabulary and enables us to analyze interfaces under unique aspects. In this paper we apply a combination of semiotic approaches as a basis for a framework to analyze user interfaces. The proposal is illustrated with the analysis of elements of the interface of commercial e-mail systems

A socially inspired energy feedback technology: challenges in a developing scenario

Raising awareness of the environmental impact of energy generation and consumption has been a recent concern of contemporary society worldwide. Underlying the awareness of energy consumption is an intricate network of perception and social interaction that can be mediated by technology. In this paper we argue that issues regarding energy, environment and technology are very much situated and involve tensions of sociocultural nature. This exploratory investigation addresses the subject by introducing the design of a Socially-inspired Energy Eco-Feedback Technology (SEET), which is composed of an interactive system to trigger and mediate collective savings and a tangible device as a public feedback. Results of an evaluation situated in the context of a school in a socially disadvantaged area in Brazil are discussed, shedding light on the sociocultural aspects related to the subject. The role of the SEET to motivate energy awareness collectively among the social group is assessed, as well as the design characteristics that contributed to that. Outcomes bring to light social aspects and dynamics that would hardly have been predicted, evidencing critical factors related to a socially inspired design approach in the energy awareness domain