Abstract

To design digital products and services that truly empower end-users requires that design and development teams involve end-users early and throughout the design process. However, regardless of the wealth of methods available to Human-Computer Interaction designers, to identify tools that are both intuitive to use and allow for the active engagement of end-users, namely though co-design activities, is hardly ever easy. To identify a simple and straightforward method can be challenging especially when the end -user group are older adults. This paper proposes an adaptation of an exercise, traditionally used in agile retrospectives – the sailboat exercise – here modified and tailored to be used as a co-design generative tool for user understanding and requirements gathering. In short, the method leverages the analogy of a sailboat, and its surrounding factors, and combines it with a set of prompt questions, to create a shared understanding between the end-users and the members of the design team and to support identification of users’ goals, desires, challenges and frustrations.

Highlights

  • Including end-users in the design process allows for effective requirements gathering and increases both user satisfaction and the level of acceptance of the final design [1]

  • The sailboat exercise is proposed as a tool to engage end-users, and other stakeholders involved in the design process, in a shared activity that aims at supporting the elicitation of user requirements

  • To design appropriate digital products and services it is vital to understand end -users and to grasp what they want to do with the products/services as well as the environments in which the products /services will be used

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Summary

Introduction

Including end-users in the design process allows for effective requirements gathering and increases both user satisfaction and the level of acceptance of the final design [1]. Users are experts of their own experience [3] and as such, potential end-users should actively contribute throughout the design process as domain experts, working in cooperation, as equal partners, with the design team [5] This generally involves engaging in a number of collaborative activities, the so-called ‘generative tools’ [5] or ‘tools for conversation’ [6], that allow users and stakeholders to dialogue and contribute their views, insights, and feedback. This paper introduces a modified version of the sailboat exercise, traditionally used in agile retrospectives [14], as a method for user understanding and requirements gathering that supports the process of making user goals, desires, challenges and frustrations explicit, while still keeping this process easy to understand and use. The paper provides instructions for facilitation and elaborates on the specific value of the exercise

Original Version of the Sailboat Exercise
Modified version of the Sailboat Exercise
Procedures
The Value of the Sailboat Exercise
A tool participants relate to immediately
A tool that allows for different stakeholders to be involved
A tool that allows for easy follow-ups
Conclusions
Co-Create Project
Full Text
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