Families and mobile devices in museums: designing for integrated experiences

This paper presents an observational study of eight families engaging with a bespoke tablet experience produced for a space science centre. It documents the various ways in which family members orientate themselves to the usage of technology in this environment, with a particular focus on the work done to manage the tablet and facilitate the engagement of younger children with the narrative of the experience. These findings are considered in the broader context of the need to design experiences that cater for engagement by families as a whole. We conclude by motivating the need for technologies that are robust in light of regular disengagement and by family members, and which provide functionality to directly support facilitation work

Homes of stroke survivors are a challenging environment for rehabilitation technologies

The design of digital technologies that support poststroke rehabilitation at home has been a topic of research for some time. If technology is to have a large-scale impact on rehabilitation practice, then we need to understand how to create technologies that are appropriate for the domestic environment and for the needs and motivations of those living there. This paper reflects on the research conducted in the Motivating Mobility project (UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council: EP/F00382X/1). We conducted sensitizing studies to develop a foundational understanding of the homes of stroke survivors, participatory design sessions situated in the home, and experimental deployments of prototype rehabilitation technologies. We identified four challenges specific to the homes of stroke survivors and relevant to the deployment of rehabilitation technologies: identifying a location for rehabilitation technology, negotiating social relationships present in the home, avoiding additional stress in households at risk of existential stress, and providing for patient safety. We conclude that skilled workers may be needed to enable successful technology deployment, systematizing the mapping of the home may be beneficial, and education is a viable focus for rehabilitation technologies

Mental Health Recovery Narratives and Their Impact on Recipients: Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis.

OBJECTIVE: Mental health recovery narratives are often shared in peer support work and antistigma campaigns. Internet technology provides access to an almost unlimited number of narratives, and yet little is known about how they affect recipients. The aim of this study was to develop a conceptual framework characterizing the impact of recovery narratives on recipients. METHOD: A systematic review of evidence about the impact of mental health recovery narratives was conducted. Searches used electronic databases ( n = 9), reference tracking, hand-searching of selected journals ( n = 2), grey literature searching, and expert consultation ( n = 7). A conceptual framework was generated through a thematic analysis of included articles, augmented by consultation with a Lived Experience Advisory Panel. RESULTS: In total, 8137 articles were screened. Five articles were included. Forms of impact were connectedness, understanding of recovery, reduction in stigma, validation of personal experience, affective responses, and behavioural responses. Impact was moderated by characteristics of the recipient, context, and narrative. Increases in eating disorder behaviours were identified as a harmful response specific to recipients with eating disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health recovery narratives can promote recovery. Recovery narratives might be useful for clients with limited access to peers and in online interventions targeted at reducing social isolation in rural or remote locations, but support is needed for the processing of the strong emotions that can arise. Caution is needed for use with specific clinical populations. Protocol registration: Prospero-CRD42018090923

The mechanisms and processes of connection: developing a causal chain model capturing impacts of receiving recorded mental health recovery narratives.

BACKGROUND: Mental health recovery narratives are a core component of recovery-oriented interventions such as peer support and anti-stigma campaigns. A substantial number of recorded recovery narratives are now publicly available online in different modalities and in published books. Whilst the benefits of telling one's story have been investigated, much less is known about how recorded narratives of differing modalities impact on recipients. A previous qualitative study identified connection to the narrator and/or to events in the narrative to be a core mechanism of change. The factors that influence how individuals connect with a recorded narrative are unknown. The aim of the current study was to characterise the immediate effects of receiving recovery narratives presented in a range of modalities (text, video and audio), by establishing the mechanisms of connection and the processes by which connection leads to outcomes. METHOD: A study involving 40 mental health service users in England was conducted. Participants were presented with up to 10 randomly-selected recovery narratives and were interviewed on the immediate impact of each narrative. Thematic analysis was used to identify the mechanisms of connection and how connection leads to outcome. RESULTS: Receiving a recovery narrative led participants to reflect upon their own experiences or those of others, which then led to connection through three mechanisms: comparing oneself with the narrative and narrator; learning about other's experiences; and experiencing empathy. These mechanisms led to outcomes through three processes: the identification of change (through attending to narrative structure); the interpretation of change (through attending to narrative content); and the internalisation of interpretations. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to identify mechanisms and processes of connection with recorded recovery narratives. The empirically-based causal chain model developed in this study describes the immediate effects on recipients. This model can inform selection of narratives for use in interventions, and be used to support peer support workers in recounting their own recovery narratives in ways which are maximally beneficial to others

Exploring large-scale interactive public illustrations

We present a research-through-design exploration of transforming large-scale public illustrations into interactive media. We collaborated with creative practitioners to extend an existing visual marker technology to support spatial and layered interaction with wall-sized images. We document how these techniques were used to design interactive illustrations and how visitors to an exhibition engaged with these. We conclude that it is feasible to combine spatial and layered interactions to attach complex narratives to public illustrations, and highlight challenges around instruction giving, sociality and repeat experiences.Work has been supported by the UK EPSRC (EP/L023717/1 and EP/M02315X/1). Our ethics approval does not allow for the release of transcripts collected during the design process, and hence access will not be provided to third parties. High-resolution versions of the illustrations are available from http://www.artcodes.co.uk/

The impact of mental health recovery narratives on recipients experiencing mental health problems: Qualitative analysis and change model.

BACKGROUND: Mental health recovery narratives are stories of recovery from mental health problems. Narratives may impact in helpful and harmful ways on those who receive them. The objective of this paper is to develop a change model identifying the range of possible impacts and how they occur. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with adults with experience of mental health problems and recovery (n = 77). Participants were asked to share a mental health recovery narrative and to describe the impact of other people's recovery narratives on their own recovery. A change model was generated through iterative thematic analysis of transcripts. RESULTS: Change is initiated when a recipient develops a connection to a narrator or to the events descripted in their narrative. Change is mediated by the recipient recognising experiences shared with the narrator, noticing the achievements or difficulties of the narrator, learning how recovery happens, or experiencing emotional release. Helpful outcomes of receiving recovery narratives are connectedness, validation, hope, empowerment, appreciation, reference shift and stigma reduction. Harmful outcomes are a sense of inadequacy, disconnection, pessimism and burden. Impact is positively moderated by the perceived authenticity of the narrative, and can be reduced if the recipient is experiencing a crisis. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that incorporate the use of recovery narratives, such as peer support, anti-stigma campaigns and bibliotherapy, can use the change model to maximise benefit and minimise harms from narratives. Interventions should incorporate a diverse range of narratives available through different mediums to enable a range of recipients to connect with and benefit from this material. Service providers using recovery narratives should preserve authenticity so as to maximise impact, for example by avoiding excessive editing

Enabling hand-crafted visual markers at scale

As locative media and augmented reality spread into the everyday world so it becomes important to create aesthetic visual markers at scale. We explore a designer-centred approach in which skilled designers handcraft seed designs that are automatically recombined to create many markers as subtle variants of a common theme. First, we extend the d-touch topological approach to creating visual markers that has previously been shown to support creative design with two new techniques: area order codes and visual checksums. We then show how the topological structure of such markers provides the basis for recombining designs to generate many variations. We demonstrate our approach through the creation of beautiful, personalized and interactive wallpaper. We reflect on how technologies must enable designers to balance goals of scalability, aesthetics and reliability in creating beautiful interactive decoration. Copyright is held by the owner/author(s).This research has been supported by the Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute (EPSRC Grant No. EP/G065802/1 and EP/M02315X/1) and the ‘Living With Interactive Decorative Patterns’ project (EPSRC Grant No. EP/L023717/1)

Crafting interactive decoration

© 2017 ACM. everyday artefacts. This involves adorning them with decorative patterns that enhance their beauty while triggering digital interactions when scanned with cameras. These are realized using an existing augmented reality technique that embeds computer readable codes into the topological structures of hand-drawn patterns. We describe a research through design process that engaged artisans to craft a portfolio of interactive artefacts, including ceramic bowls, embroidered gift cards, fabric souvenirs, and an acoustic guitar. We annotate this portfolio with reflections on the crafting process, revealing how artisans addressed pattern, materials, form and function, and digital mappings throughout their craft process. Further reflection on our portfolio reveals how they bridged between human and system perceptions of visual patterns and engaged in a deep embedding of digital interactions into physical materials. Our findings demonstrate the potential for interactive decoration, distilling the craft knowledge involved in creating aesthetic and functional decoration, highlight the need for transparent computer vision technologies, and raise wider issues for HCI's growing engagement with craft

Post-traumatic growth in mental health recovery: qualitative study of narratives.

OBJECTIVES: Post-traumatic growth, defined as positive psychological change experienced as a result of the struggle with challenging life circumstances, is under-researched in people with mental health problems. The aim of this study was to develop a conceptual framework for post-traumatic growth in the context of recovery for people with psychosis and other severe mental health problems. DESIGN: Qualitative thematic analysis of cross-sectional semi-structured interviews about personal experiences of mental health recovery. SETTING: England. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were adults aged over 18 and: (1) living with psychosis and not using mental health services (n=21); (2) using mental health services and from black and minority ethnic communities (n=21); (3) underserved, operationalised as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community or complex needs or rural community (n=19); or (4) employed in peer roles using their lived experience with others (n=16). The 77 participants comprised 42 (55%) female and 44 (57%) white British. RESULTS: Components of post-traumatic growth were present in 64 (83%) of recovery narratives. Six superordinate categories were identified, consistent with a view that post-traumatic growth involves learning about oneself (self-discovery) leading to a new sense of who one is (sense of self) and appreciation of life (life perspective). Observable positively valued changes comprise a greater focus on self-management (well-being) and more importance being attached to relationships (relationships) and spiritual or religious engagement (spirituality). Categories are non-ordered and individuals may start from any point in this process. CONCLUSIONS: Post-traumatic growth is often part of mental health recovery. Changes are compatible with research about growth following trauma, but with more emphasis on self-discovery, integration of illness-related experiences and active self-management of well-being. Trauma-related growth may be a preferable term for participants who identify as having experienced trauma. Trauma-informed mental healthcare could use the six identified categories as a basis for new approaches to supporting recovery. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN11152837

The VOICES typology of curatorial decisions in narrative collections of the lived experiences of mental health service use, recovery or madness: qualitative study

Background: Collections of lived experience narratives are increasingly used in health research and medical practice. However there is limited research concerning the decision-making processes in curating narrative collections, and of the work that curators do as they build and publish collections. Objective: The objectives of this study were to develop a typology of curatorial decisions involved in curating narrative collections presenting lived experiences of mental health service use, recovery or madness, and to document approaches selected by curators in relation to identified curatorial decision. Methods: A preliminary typology was developed by synthesising the results of a systematic review with insights gained through an iterative consultation with an experienced curator of multiple recovery narrative collections. The preliminary typology informed the topic guide for semi-structured interviews with a maximum variation sample of 30 curators from 7 different countries. All participants had experience of curating narrative collections of the lived experiences of mental health service use, recovery or madness. Thematic analysis through constant comparison was conducted by a multidisciplinary team. Results: The final typology identified six themes, giving the acronym VOICES: Values and motivations, Organisation, Inclusion and exclusion, Control and collaboration, Ethics and legal, Safety and wellbeing. 26 sub-themes relating to curation decisions were identified. Conclusions: The VOICES typology identifies key decisions to consider when curating narrative collections about the lived experiences of mental health service use, recovery or madness. The VOICES typology might be used as a theoretical basis for a good practice resource, to support curators in their efforts to balance the challenges and sometimes conflicting imperatives involved in collecting, organising and sharing narratives. Future research might seek to document the usage of such a tool by curators, and hence examine how best to use VOICES to support decision making