Interdisciplinary working in service design: case studies for designing touch points

The paper argues that interdisciplinary design can be successful in services design. It offers information about 2 case studies in which interdisciplinary teams address design services problems. The paper explains the design method employed in the case studies. It also identifies “user design centred” as the main concept that drove the design approach. It explains the meaning of “user centred design”, of “services design” and highlights the importance of “interdisciplinary services design”. The paper also offers a framework for interdisciplinary working in service design. KEYWORDS: Service Design, Touch Points, Interdisciplinary workin

Applying a User-centred Approach to Interactive Visualization Design

Analysing users in their context of work and finding out how and why they use different information resources is essential to provide interactive visualisation systems that match their goals and needs. Designers should actively involve the intended users throughout the whole process. This chapter presents a user-centered approach for the design of interactive visualisation systems. We describe three phases of the iterative visualisation design process: the early envisioning phase, the global specification hase, and the detailed specification phase. The whole design cycle is repeated until some criterion of success is reached. We discuss different techniques for the analysis of users, their tasks and domain. Subsequently, the design of prototypes and evaluation methods in visualisation practice are presented. Finally, we discuss the practical challenges in design and evaluation of collaborative visualisation environments. Our own case studies and those of others are used throughout the whole chapter to illustrate various approaches

Applying scenarios in user-centred design to develop a sketching interface for human modelling and animation

This paper presents our user and usability studies for applying scenarios in user-centred design to develop a sketching interface for virtual human modelling and animation. In this approach, we utilise the User Centred System Design (UCSD) strategy and spiral lifecycles to ensure system usability and functionalities. A series of usability techniques were employed. After the initial conceptual design, a preliminary user study (including questionnaires and sketching observations) was undertaken to establish the formal interface design. Second, an informal user test was conducted on the first prototype: a “sketch-based 3D stick figure animation interface”. Finally, a formal user evaluation (including performance tests, sketching observations, and interviews) was carried out on the latest version: a “sketch-based virtual human builder”. During this iterative process, various paper-based and electronic-based sketching scenarios were created, which were acted-out by users to help designers evoke and verify design ideas, identify users’ needs, and test the prototype interfaces in real contexts. Benefiting from applying the UCSD strategy and scenario-based design to develop a natural and supportive sketching interface, our investigation can be a useful instantiation for the design of other sketching interfaces where these techniques have not been widely acknowledged and utilised in the past

Experience Centred Design for a Robotic Eating Aid

We discuss how an experience centred approach to robotic design might lead to new design spaces and products that are more engaging and better meet users' needs and lifestyles. To support the statement, we present preliminary data from a long-term user study on an eating aid robot

User-Centred BCI Videogame Design

International audienceThis chapter aims to offer a user-centred methodological framework to guide the design and evaluation of Brain-Computer Interface videogames. This framework is based on the contributions of ergonomics to ensure these games are well suited for their users (i.e., players). It provides methods, criteria and metrics to complete the different phases required by ae human-centred design process. This aims to understand the context of use, specify the user needs and evaluate the solutions in order to define design choices. Several ergonomic methods (e.g., interviews, longitudinal studies, user based testing), objective metrics (e.g., task success, number of errors) and subjective metrics (e.g., mark assigned to an item) are suggested to define and measure the usefulness, usability, acceptability, hedonic qualities, appealingness, emotions related to user experience, immersion and presence to be respected. The benefits and contributions of the user centred framework for the ergonomic design of these Brain-Computer Interface Videogames are discussed

Training AAC users in user-centred design

User-centred design (UCD) with a focus on usability provides product developers with a design approach in which users are involved in every stage of the process: when gathering requirements; when evaluating alternative designs; and when evaluating interactive prototypes.The characteristics of people who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) make it difficult to follow a truly UCD approach, which in part may contribute to the high rejection of AAC devices. Training workshops have been delivered to introduce users and AAC professionals to the UCD process.Initial feedback indicates that they feel more empowered to evaluate systems and to engage in the design of new systems after attending the workshop

Understanding Consumer Behaviour to Reduce Environmental Impacts through Sustainable Product Design

The use phase of the lifecycle of electrical products has a significant environmental impact, mainly determined by the consumer’s behaviour. Many consumers do not make the link between their daily consumption behaviour in the household and environmental problems such as climate change. In the 21st century, the residential sector, together with transport and industry, is one of the largest man-made contributors in the UK to climate change. It is argued that technological innovations, current eco-efficient products and consumer education have been ineffective in creating the long term radical behavioural change needed to reduce the impact of product use. Products, as the interface between consumers and consumption activities, have the potential to influence the way in which consumption occurs. In the sustainable design field however, designer responsibility traditionally considers raw material selection and product disposal. There is limited work that addresses the environmental impacts relating directly to use behaviour of the product. This paper illustrates that user behaviour studies can be the preliminary step for designers to improve energy efficiency of products. A single product type, household cold appliance, was chosen as a case to explore the capacity of designer-conducted user study to identify unsustainable aspects of product use. Adopting a user-centred approach, two pilot studies were used to gain an insight into domestic fridge and freezer use in the UK. Qualitative ethnographical research methods were employed to investigate the daily practices and “real” needs of user as well as the connection between the knowledge, attitudes, intention and actual action. The design suggestions drawn from the user behaviour analysis provide examples of how energy impact level of the interaction with the product can be reduced through design. Keywords: User-Centred Research; Sustainable Product Design; Changing Consumer Behaviour; Design Research; Household Energy Consumption; Household Cold Appliance.</p

User-centred interface design for cross-language information retrieval

This paper reports on the user-centered design methodology and techniques used for the elicitation of user requirements and how these requirements informed the first phase of the user interface design for a Cross-Language Information Retrieval System. We describe a set of factors involved in analysis of the data collected and, finally discuss the implications for user interface design based on the findings

Control of virtual environments for young people with learning difficulties

Purpose: The objective of this research is to identify the requirements for the selection or development of usable virtual environment (VE) interface devices for young people with learning disabilities. Method: a user-centred design methodology was employed, to produce a design specification for usable VE interface devices. Details of the users' cognitive, physical and perceptual abilities were obtained through observation and normative assessment tests. Conclusions : A review of computer interface technology, including virtual reality and assistive devices, was conducted. As there were no devices identified that met all the requirements of the design specification, it was concluded that there is a need for the design and development of new concepts. Future research will involve concept and prototype development and user-based evaluation of the prototypes