Concerns about weight and shape in overweight 12 year old girls and their mothers

Concerns about weight, shape and eating and attempts at dietary restraint are prevalent among young girls, but may increase of the risk of the development of eating disorders, especially if low self-esteem or symptoms of depression are also present. The literature suggests that there may be links between mothers and daughters attitudes towards weight, shape and dietary restraint. The aim of the study was to investigate whether concerns about weight, shape and eating and attempts at dietary restraint differed between overweight and average-weight girls; and whether overweight girls had lower self-esteem, and/or more symptoms of depression than average-weight girls. Possible links between mothers' and daughters' attitudes towards weight and shape and dietary restraint were also investigated. Results showed that overweight girls had more concerns about weight, shape and eating and attempted dietary restraint more than average weight girls. Overweight girls had more negative perception of their athletic competence, physical appearance and global self-worth, and more symptoms of depression than average-weight girls. Mothers of overweight girls, who themselves had higher BMIs than the mothers of average-weight girls, had more concerns and negative beliefs about weight, shape and eating and attempted more dietary restraint, than the mothers of average-weight girls. Although there was some association between mothers' and daughters' concerns in the average-weight group these associations were not present in the overweight group. The conclusions were that overweight girls may be particularly vulnerable to the development of eating disorders, but that the links between mothers' and daughters' concerns are not straightforward

Designing out-of-box experiences for older adults: exploring the boundaries of inclusive design

This thesis investigates the Out-of-Box Experience (OoBE) of interactive consumer products for older adults, with a view to improve the User Experience (UX) of a product by manipulating factors of the OoBE. This research emerges in the context of current demographic trends, which see people living longer and in better health, and the increasing ubiquity of technology in modern life. The OoBE describes the very first stages of interaction with a new product, including acquisition, unpacking and setup. This crucial initial experience has the potential to influence product acceptance and therefore determine its future use. Creating a positive OoBE requires an empathic understanding of the intended users, as well as contextual knowledge about current practices. A review of the literature revealed that many of the difficulties older adults experience with technology concern elements of the OoBE, such as complicated documentation, technical jargon and inadequate support for inexperienced users. However, the absence of research on how to engage older adults during the OoBE of new technology reinforced the need for further research. To this end, two user studies were conducted with older people, followed by a design study with designers. The first study explored older adults relationship with technology and their current practices of the OoBE, using the Technology Biography method. The second study used cultural probes to investigate the social side of UX and its effect on personal feelings of independence. Data from these two studies were used to create four personas, which were used in the design study. This third and final study focused on whether the construct of social benefits could be operationalised within the OoBE of new technology. Collectively, the findings indicated that the involvement of other people during the OoBE can be a strong motivator for older people to take up and use technology. Far from impinging on individual perceptions of independence, some older people actively manipulate the OoBE in order to derive social benefits. This research thus contributes to the discussion of how Inclusive Design can evolve through the incorporation of social benefits, in order to generate desirable and successful future products

Empathy in the design of assistive devices for older adults: An exploratory study with Portuguese women

Assistive Devices (AD) aim to enhance the autonomy of their users, among whom are older adults. However, older adults often have negative feelings towards these products, such as the fear of dependence, which in turn influence their acceptance and use. These feelings can result from the use of design approaches that focus merely on users’ physical abilities. This article argues for the importance of rethinking approaches to the design of AD by focusing on a holistic and empathic view of older people. It also seeks to contribute to a richer understanding of what independence and dependence means to older people. This article describes an exploratory study with eleven older women, living in two distinct contexts in the north of Portugal – rural and urban. The qualitative data that emerged from this research were used to develop five empirical personas, to provide a readily usable and useful tool for design

Cultural probes and levels of creativity

Cultural probes are a design research method, which has gained prominence for being particularly suited to conducting research on sensitive topics and in personal contexts. This paper reports the methodological process of designing and deploying cultural probes to investigate the meaning of independence for older adults. We describe the rationale behind the development of individual elements of the probe kits, as well as a follow-up qualitative interview. Our discussion focuses on our experience of using this technique, with a view to informing appropriate and empowering research methodologies for older people

Let’s Spend Some Time Together:Exploring the Out-of-Box Experience of Technology for Older Adults

This journal article is made available with kind permission of IGI Global.Designing technology for older people has traditionally focused on compensating for the decline in abilities that occurs with ageing. The research described in this paper followed a more holistic approach, focusing on the broader user experience of technology in the home environment. Specifically, this research was concerned with the very first interactions with a new product known as the Out-of-Box Experience (OoBE): how older people acquire their technology, how they unpack it, and how they set it up. This paper describes two exploratory studies that used a design ethnography approach to build a rich picture of the OoBE of new technology for older adults. The findings indicate that older people experience varying benefits from the involvement of other people during the OoBE of new technology. Lastly, the paper discusses the value of social interaction in this context and offers recommendations on the design of the OoBE of technology to engage older adults

Empirically derived user attributes for the design of home healthcare technologies

Designing effective home healthcare technologies is a complex task. In order to succeed, it is important to look beyond purely technology-driven solutions and to develop technologies and services that are flexible and reflect a sensitive understanding of the diverse users of such systems. The key contribution of this paper is to introduce 15 empirically derived attributes that can help designers to build a more detailed understanding of the potential users of home healthcare systems. The attributes are spread across four broad themes: technology in the home, experiences of technology, experiences of health and care, and thoughts about smart home technology for health and care. These themes and attributes emerged from an ethnographic study in which we interviewed people across 15 households. All interviews took place in people’s homes and were supplemented by home technology tours and cultural probes. It is intended that the 15 attributes be used in conjunction with demographic and household data to build a richer picture of personal experiences of home, health, and technology in real-life contexts. The aim was to provide an inclusive framework, based on empirically derived attributes, that helps to inform an overall user-centred design approach. To demonstrate one application of the attributes in design, the paper provides in-depth example of their use in the development of a rich set of data-driven personas.SPHERE-IRCUK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS AT PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS IN DUBAI, UAE: BARRIERS, SELF-EFFICACY, AND THE RELEVANCY OF THE COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY FRAMEWORK

Teachers at private international schools in Dubai often face barriers to technology integration that interrupt their ability to teach meaningfully with technology. A review of the literature identified both first-and second-order barriers to technology integration in elementary school classrooms. After identifying the barriers, a needs assessment was conducted that asked participants to what degree they experienced four barriers to technology integration: technology self-efficacy, pedagogical beliefs, quality of professional learning, and amount of time to experiment and plan with technology. Based on the findings of the needs analysis, an intervention was developed that aimed to adopt the Community of Inquiry framework (CoI; Garrison, Anderson, and Archer, 2001) to fit into the context of elementary school classrooms and train elementary school teachers how to integrate it. However, due to complications from Covid-19, the intervention was altered into a pilot study to examine the challenges elementary school teachers faced when integrating technology into hybrid and online instruction during the pandemic. Elementary school teachers attended five online coaching sessions about the CoI framework. The coaching sessions were aligned with Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory and included the four sources of self-efficacy development as a mechanism to increase teachers’ technology self-efficacy. Four of the five coaching sessions provided participants with opportunities to learn about and practice using teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence (the three presences of the CoI) when teaching with technology. To determine if the coaching sessions increased teachers’ technology self-efficacy and if teachers perceived CoI framework to be relevant to their instructional practice, a mixed-methods data collection process was implemented. The findings from this small sample (N = 4) of elementary school teachers suggest that the technology self-efficacy beliefs of participants increased because of the coaching sessions. In addition, data showed that teachers perceived the CoI framework to be relevant to their instructional practice when teaching with digital tools. Findings suggest that the CoI framework can be adapted into the elementary school context and elementary school teachers’ technology self-efficacy may increase as a result of using the framework