Exploring Co-Design with Breastfeeding Mothers

Designing mobile applications for breastfeeding mothers can be challenging; creating spaces to foster co-design -- when a mother's primary focus is on her child rather than on design activities - is even more so. In this paper we discuss the development of the Milk Matters mobile application, a tool developed to motivate women to donate their surplus breast milk to the local milk bank. We look at the importance of different approaches to understanding the mothers, comparing workshops, surveys, and cultural probes. Through our work we identify three factors to consider when co-designing with and for mothers: 1) interrupted interactions 2) elements that might distract a baby and 3) the importance of empowering mothers through positive reinforcement. Based on these factors we examine our methodological approaches, suggesting ways to make future research with breastfeeding mothers more productive

Våra dialekter

Våra dialekter Innehållsförteckning – Inledaren: Stolthet och identitet av Pia Prost – Finlands svenska dialekter mår bra av Thure Malmberg – Abborrar, strömmingsnät, sjömän och en droppe i havet av Carola Ekrem – Dialektgränsen i Skärgårdshavet av Ann-Marie Ivars – För dig som vill lära dig hootsjärskå! av Ulla Mattsson-Wiklén – Lokalblad på Korpo ger dialekthistorier nytt liv av Ida-Kajsa Johansson – Svenska spår i skärgårdskommunen Gustavs av Charlotte von Haartman – På Bärgöijen av Pia Prost – ”Tig, det får man på Kökar det” av Kristin Mattsson – Hälsningar från Nöute av Kristin Mattsson – Havet tog bror och barn men livsglädjen är kvar av Thure Malmberg – Skärgårdsfotografen Bo Isomaa – Marinbiologin moderniseras av Anna Törnroos-Remes och Erik Bonsdorff – Skyddsfonden för Skärgårdshavet av Tove Holm – Kött på förvittrade ben av Kasper Westerlund – Bokhörnan: Spång över gränsälv i nordiskt nålsöga – 40 år av nordiskt skärgårdssamarbete – historien 2008–2017 av Lars Nyberg – Skärgårdens historia av Christian Pleijel – De vill använda vatten två gånger av Christian Pleijel – Skärinytt – Sista bilde

Facilitated sequence assembly using densely labeled optical DNA barcodes:A combinatorial auction approach

<div><p>The output from whole genome sequencing is a set of contigs, i.e. short non-overlapping DNA sequences (sizes 1-100 kilobasepairs). Piecing the contigs together is an especially difficult task for previously unsequenced DNA, and may not be feasible due to factors such as the lack of sufficient coverage or larger repetitive regions which generate gaps in the final sequence. Here we propose a new method for scaffolding such contigs. The proposed method uses densely labeled optical DNA barcodes from competitive binding experiments as scaffolds. On these scaffolds we position theoretical barcodes which are calculated from the contig sequences. This allows us to construct longer DNA sequences from the contig sequences. This proof-of-principle study extends previous studies which use sparsely labeled DNA barcodes for scaffolding purposes. Our method applies a probabilistic approach that allows us to discard “foreign” contigs from mixed samples with contigs from different types of DNA. We satisfy the contig non-overlap constraint by formulating the contig placement challenge as a combinatorial auction problem. Our exact algorithm for solving this problem reduces computational costs compared to previous methods in the combinatorial auction field. We demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed scaffolding method both for synthetic contigs and for contigs obtained using Illumina sequencing for a mixed sample with plasmid and chromosomal DNA.</p></div

Form is Function

this paper is to encourage people engaged in the software development process to pay more attention to the aesthetics at an early stage. Aesthetic concerns will improve both usability and other goals that the application may have. Example We will now look at an example from the web. A stock trading site that guides the users by making use of colour. The two orange tabs near the top of the page are probably the first elements on the page that people notice. See fig 1. The left one guides the newcomers to the possibility of becoming a customer, (&quot;Bli kund&quot;). And the returning users are directed to the login function (&quot;Logga in&quot;) by the right tab. Because of the deliberately focused and &quot;clean&quot; design the visitor might also get an impression of the web site as one that is speedy and accurate. The same form element, or sign, supports several functions. The design both guides the user and gives her/him an impression. The conscious designer knows that we often start by looking at the top of a page and that orange attracts attention. He has also chosen a typeface that fits into the same style as the rest of the site. If the typeface is not what you expect, it will attract your attention, distract you in your action and destroy the impression of speed, which was one of the goals for this site. Character What we look at or use always gives us an impression. We construct a character that we associate with the artefact as soon as we encounter it. [Constructing a character is] &quot;one of the basic abilities human beings has evolved in dealing with each other and things in their environment.&quot; (Janlert, et al. p.314) This is inevitable but we are perhaps not always aware of it. What impressions we get depends on our previous experience, our culture, the context, etc. These impressions..

Design Space Exploration : co-operative creation of proposals for desired interactions with future artefacts

This thesis critically reflects on co-operative design workshops that I have conducted. The basic method used in these workshops draws on the participants’ embodied knowing. In the over twenty workshops that are analysed here a wide range of participants have been involved: family members, employees, persons with disabilities, and other stakeholders like manufacturers, service providers and civil servants. The topics have varied, but they have mostly been related to ICT products and services. Most of the workshops were conducted within various research projects. In order to analyse this diverse range of workshops I use several different theories and concepts. I articulate and analyse the design aspects of the activities by using established design theories and concepts. The conceptual tool design space, meaning all possible design proposals, is used for understanding the design process. I also use theories from other fields in order to analyse three different aspects of the workshops: the participants’ activities, the designers’ responsibility, and the process. To analyse the way that the participants co-operatively create knowledge, theories of interpersonal actions are used; to analyse the work done by the designer/conductor, theories of frames are used; and to analyse the process, the theory of actualisation and realisation is used. During the workshops the participants co-operatively make scenarios, props and video prototypes in order to create proposals for desired interactions with future artefacts. Contributions include accounts of critical situations during the workshops and suggested strategies for dealing with them. Some implications are relevant to the design field in general, for example the importance of a process where the participants trust each other, learn from each other and work effectively with difficult issues by creating multiple proposals that facilitate understanding of the design space. I also offer arguments about why it is better to see activities, props and prototypes as mainly constitutive rather than as only representative. Video prototypes on DVD and seven publications are included in the thesis.

REGARDING DESIGN AS A CONSTITUTING PRACTICE MATTERS

This paper explores how the two concepts of representing and constituting are used in relation to design practice. The terms representing and representation are often used to describe the relation a model or prototype has to the end result. In this exploratory paper we investigate the potential impact of a change in terms, from represent to constitute. One inspiration is the writing of John Stewart on the post-semiotic approach to communication. The examples used in the paper are from practice rooted in both traditional industrial design and co-design. I argue that it is important to see design work as a constituting practice rather than a representative one. Supporting this standpoint are both the fact that the future does not yet exist and therefore is difficult to represent, and the strong argument that knowledge is created in dialogue and constituted in action. Thus, when we stop interpreting design matter as representations, design can matter to the world