Human-centered Design Process Research Articles

Development and Evaluation of Video Instructions for a Cross-generational AAL Tablet Application

Summary It is challenging to design a sufficiently complex user interface that is universally usable. Striking differences between younger and older users, based on age and cohort effects, demand suitable design compromises with an effective combination of user interface and instructional design. This paper describes such a design compromise with a focus on video instruction for an AAL application designed to maintain and expand cross-generational social support networks. To estimate its effectiveness, 30 younger (M = 26 years) and 31 older (M = 68 years) participants were split in two groups: Both solved the same 16 tasks with the same AAL application, yet the experimental group received a short video instruction before the tasks and the control group did not. Results show that both age groups rated the video instruction as useful and did benefit from it – older users’ effectiveness improved even to the level of younger users. It can be concluded that the effective combination of user interface and instructional design played a central role towards universal usability and that early integration of instructional design into the human centered design process improved its efficiency.

2S7-3 人間中心設計プロセスとユーザビリティに関する国際標準

2S7-3 人間中心設計プロセスとユーザビリティに関する国際標準

Development of a database for capability-appropriate workplace design in the manufacturing industry

BACKGROUND: Due to demographic change, less young workers are available and the overall number of workers will decrease. The length of absenteeism, especially due to musculoskeletal disorders, increases with higher age. OBJECTIVE: The range of performance between individuals grows wider although there are exceptions for different capabilities and elderly workers. Therefore, a capability-appropriate workplace design is necessary to meet physical workplace demands in the manufacturing industry and in order to preserve the workability of the workforce. METHODS: The human-centred design process was used to provide a design solution that meets the needs of the workplace designers. The design solutions are evaluated three times. RESULTS: The high number of capabilities with a wide range of individual performance can be best captured and represented in a database. Therefore, a database is developed in which relevant physical manufacturing capabilities are collected and processed for workplace designers. Based on this information, design solutions for a prospective capability-appropriate workplace design can be derived relative to the age structure of the manufacturing plant. CONCLUSIONS: This gives the workplace designer propositions on how to plan their workplaces so as to avoid excessive stress and musculoskeletal disorders in the employees.

Human-centered design of a cyber-physical system for advanced response to Ebola (CARE).

We describe the process towards the design of a safe, reliable, and intuitive emergency treatment unit to facilitate a higher degree of safety and situational awareness for medical staff, leading to an increased level of patient care during an epidemic outbreak in an unprepared, underdeveloped, or disaster stricken area. We start with a human-centered design process to understand the design challenge of working with Ebola treatment units in Western Africa in the latest Ebola outbreak, and show preliminary work towards cyber-physical technologies applicable to potentially helping during the next outbreak.

Human-Centered Design as an Approach for Place-Based Innovation in Public Health: A Case Study from Oakland, California.

This case study provides a high-level overview of the human-centered design (HCD) or "design thinking" process and its relevance to public health. The Best Babies Zone (BBZ) initiative is a multi-year project aimed at reducing inequities in infant mortality rates. In 2012, BBZ launched pilot programs in three US cities: Cincinnati, Ohio; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Oakland, California. The Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD), the lead for the Oakland BBZ site, identified HCD as a promising approach for addressing the social and economic conditions that are important drivers of health inequities. HCD is a process for creating innovative products, services, and strategies that prioritizes the needs of the intended population. ACPHD partnered with the Gobee Group (a social innovation design consultancy) to develop the Design Sprint. The Design Sprint was a 12-week pilot in which 14 professionals from nine organizations used the HCD process to develop concepts for stimulating a vibrant local economy in the Oakland Best Babies Zone. Thirty- to sixty-minute semi-structured interviews were conducted with all 14 individuals involved in the Design Sprint. With the exception of one interview, the interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and inductively coded to identify themes. Our experience suggests that HCD can: enhance community engagement; expedite the timeframe for challenge identification, program design, and implementation; and create innovative programs that address complex challenges.

Visualization and establishment of product design regulations as interactive modules

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the preferable manner for visualizing different product regulations to be used in the training of and communication between people working at different levels in the production process. Many organizations struggle to communicate important and compulsory regulations, but the intended users are often reluctant to use them. Design/methodology/approach – The study has an action research approach, and the visualized regulations were the result of a human-centered design process that considered aspects for successful organizational change. Findings – The action research approach proved to be a successful framework to design the transformation of well-constructed illustrations in interactive guides, communicate and convince managers and users of the potential of the concept, develop a number of different well-functioning guides and establish regulations with illustrative elements and interactivity in a long-term perspective of an organization. Research limitations/implications – Further research is needed to follow-up the usage of visualized regulations to clarify how communication and quality are supported in design and production processes. Practical implications – The study shows how different product regulations should be visualized and established in an organization, with a potential for further dissemination. It is likely that the approach to design and visualize regulations in this study can function in other branches. Originality/value – The study finds a preferable manner for visualizing different product regulations to be used in the training of and communication between people working at different levels in the production process.

Making Methods Work: 10 Rules of Thumb for Design Research

Background : This paper outlines ten rules of thumb, or heuristics, for conducting good research in the context of human centered design. The subject matter is situated in design education within the structure of the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. To further set context, a process common to the School is framed in terms of Exploratory, Generative, and Evaluative research and design. Methods : The ten rules of thumb were extracted from several years of research and design projects conducted by students and faculty in the School of Design. A common example of the rules of thumb employed through the research and design process is exhibited in projects executed in the graduate Master of Design course, Research Methods for Design. This course is linked to a Studio project course, such that methods are taught “just in time” for application in a full semester long, team-based client project. Students are prompted with an open-ended design brief that varies each year. Results : The ten heuristics are, to Set boundaries; Immerse yourself; Engage your stakeholders; Work in context; Work in teams; Be creative; Integrate research and design; Use both sides of your brain; Triangulate; and Be credible. Examples of research methods and approaches ideally suited to fulfilling each rule of thumb are used to illustrate the heuristics and provide practical guidance for design applications. The paper is concluded with a sample project from the School of Design, highlighting the process framework, rules of thumb, and application of various research and design methods. Conclusion : Although not comprehensive, the ten rules of thumb, each presented with a brief definition, justification, and sample methods, are intended to guide a valid, productive, and enjoyable human centered research and design process, with a goal of achieving excellence in design outcomes through a well bounded, immersive and engaging, contextual, team-based, creative, integrated rational and intuitive process utilizing a triangulated set of credible research methods.

Usability and feasibility of a tablet-based Decision-Support and Integrated Record-keeping (DESIRE) tool in the nurse management of hypertension in rural western Kenya

BackgroundMobile health (mHealth) applications have recently proliferated, especially in low- and middle-income countries, complementing task-redistribution strategies with clinical decision support. Relatively few studies address usability and feasibility issues that may impact success or failure of implementation, and few have been conducted for non-communicable diseases such as hypertension. ObjectiveTo conduct iterative usability and feasibility testing of a tablet-based Decision Support and Integrated Record-keeping (DESIRE) tool, a technology intended to assist rural clinicians taking care of hypertension patients at the community level in a resource-limited setting in western Kenya. MethodsUsability testing consisted of “think aloud” exercises and “mock patient encounters” with five nurses, as well as one focus group discussion. Feasibility testing consisted of semi-structured interviews of five nurses and two members of the implementation team, and one focus group discussion with nurses. Content analysis was performed using both deductive codes and significant inductive codes. Critical incidents were identified and ranked according to severity. A cause-of-error analysis was used to develop corresponding design change suggestions. ResultsFifty-seven critical incidents were identified in usability testing, 21 of which were unique. The cause-of-error analysis yielded 23 design change suggestions. Feasibility themes included barriers to implementation along both human and technical axes, facilitators to implementation, provider issues, patient issues and feature requests. ConclusionsThis participatory, iterative human-centered design process revealed previously unaddressed usability and feasibility issues affecting the implementation of the DESIRE tool in western Kenya. In addition to well-known technical issues, we highlight the importance of human factors that can impact implementation of mHealth interventions.

Design for 'tourist audio guide service' through human-centered design process

Design for 'tourist audio guide service' through human-centered design process

Displacing use: Exploring alternative relationships in a human-centred design process

This paper critically discusses the concept of use in design, suggesting that relevant relationships other than use are sometimes obscured by the user-centredness of design processes. We present a design case from the medical device domain that displaced the concept of use from the centre of a human-centred design process. We identified alternative design-relevant relationships between people and devices that are not specifically tied to the functions/uses of the devices, e.g. relationships between the healthcare professional and the device, between doctors and patients, and between patients and their own medical conditions. Displacing use can be a valuable strategy for design, revealing some of the contextual conditions that influence an artefact's use, and broadening the space of alternatives explored in design.

Human-Centered Design Process - Practice and Obstacles

Human-Centered Design Process - Practice and Obstacles

A Novel, Real-time Biomechanical Feedback System for Use in Rowing

Biomechanical feedback in water-based rowing is traditionally presented as paper reports or video overlaid with data once a session has been completed. Research into the provision of extrinsic feedback in sport suggests that real-time feedback can lead to skill acquisition and, when appropriately applied, lead to skill retention during competition and therefore a positive performance outcome. This paper presents a novel system architecture that delivers real-time feedback using commercially available off-the-shelf components. The development of a rowing specific system to test a range of feedback strategies is presented, including fading feedback, mixing feedback modalities and varying of the frequency and timing of feedback. MoSync, a cross-platform smartphone development language, was used to write the client application while the server was written as an embedded application in C and Lua that ran on top of the OpenWrt open-source router operating system. Data was transmitted wirelessly across a Wi-Fi network. A human-centred design process was led by a group of high-performance athletes and coaches and the system was shown to deliver data to up to 10 clients simultaneously. Future research will investigate the efficacy of a variety of different feedback strategies to rowers.

Board 142 - Program Innovations Abstract 3DiTeams Handover Initiative

Introduction/Background Patient handovers after surgery to intensive care units (ICUs) are replete with communication and technical errors1-3 and studies highlight a relationship between handover quality and patient outcomes.4-6 The Duke Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center received an external educational grant to develop an immersive education environment that aims to improve communication and decrease preventable adverse events in operating room (OR) to neuro ICU handovers. This project used human-centered design (HCD) which incorporates user-centered feedback throughout the development process, thus allowing users to shape the design of the product and enhance its usability to intimately involve users in the refinement of their own handover.7,8 As part of the HCD process, focus groups were conducted with key members in the neuro ICU and OR. Methods Six focus groups were conducted with nurses, residents, fellows, attending physicians and nurse practitioners from the neuro ICU and with anesthesia providers and surgeons from the OR. These guided interviews lasted 30-60 minutes, were separated by role to promote open and honest communicationband utilized a standardized question set that addressed such topics as the responsibility for transmitting and receiving information, information documentation, leadership, problems with the current process and potential solutions. Data analysis was performed using conventional content analysis, a method generally used with a study design whose aim is to describe a phenomenon when existing theory on the topic is limited.to nine Analysis involved the systematic coding of text into categories that characterized and identified key concepts mentioned by the subjects. Focus group participants provided feedback on the current process and discussed the information transfer and available tools to facilitate it, as well as recommendations for improving the physical and information transfers and for developing new handover tools. Most concerning to unit members were missing information (e.g. patient history, patient name and pre-op exam status), multiple conversations, surgeons rushing and not providing enough information and nurses who were unwilling to receive report until the patient was settled in. The analysis revealed that many unit members feel a need for a standardized process, an easy to read, brief, informative summary sheet to be handed over with the patient and a tool to guide the verbal handover. Consistent teams, tasks defined by role and having all members of the team present during the information transfer were also desires expressed by unit members. Results: Conclusion Human-centered design was used to intimately involve educational program participants in designing tools to help improve handovers within their own units. Feedback from participants will be integrated into a multimodal educational program including a virtual environment for learning and practice, on-site clinical observations and technology-mediated coaching. The educational program aims to improve handovers and patient safety in critical care. The final product will be a modular program that can be expanded to address all types of handovers from shift-to-shift to more unit-specific processes.

Evolution of Human Factors Research and Studies of Health Information Technologies: The Role of Patient Safety

The objective of this survey paper is to present and explain the impact of recent regulations and patient safety initiatives (EU, US and Canada) on Human Factors (HF)/Usability studies and research focusing on Health Information Technology (HIT). The authors have selected the most prominent of these recent regulations and initiatives, which rely on validated HF and usability methods and concepts and aim at enhancing the specific process of identification and prevention of technology-induced errors throughout the lifecycle of HIT. The analysis highlights several points of consensus: 1) safety initiatives or regulations applicable to Medical Devices (MD) tend to extend to HIT, 2) Usability is considered a fundamental dimension of HIT safety, 3) HF/Usability methods and the overall Human Centred Design (HCD) approach are considered efficient solutions to ensure the design of safe and usable HIT. However, it appears that MD manufacturers, and a fortiori HIT designers and developers are still far from being able to routinely apply HCD to their products. On the research side, we need to analyze manufacturers' difficulties with the application of the HCD process and imposed standards. For each given category of HIT, we need to identify the fundamental usability dimensions and design principles likely to impact patient safety independently of workplace settings or organizations. These should be described in terms of usability flaws, corresponding usage problems experienced by users and related outcomes. This approach requires good quality and well structured reporting of Human Factors / Usability research studies on HIT.

Communicating actionable user research for human-centered design

AbstractIn human-centered design, user research drives design decisions by providing an understanding of end users. In practice, different people, teams, or even companies manage each step of the design process, making communication of user research results a critical activity. Based on an empirical study of current methods used by experts, this paper presents strategies for effectively communicating user research findings across organizational or corporate boundaries. To build researcher–client relationships, understand both user and client needs, and overcome institutional inertia, this paper proposes viewing user research clients asusersof user research outcomes. This reframing of the crafting of communication across boundaries as a parallel internal human-centered design process we refer to as adouble ethnography.

Ecological IVIS design: using EID to develop a novel in-vehicle information system

New in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) are emerging which purport to encourage more environment friendly or ‘green’ driving. Meanwhile, wider concerns about road safety and in-car distractions remain. The ‘Foot-LITE’ project is an effort to balance these issues, aimed at achieving safer and greener driving through real-time driving information, presented via an in-vehicle interface which facilitates the desired behaviours while avoiding negative consequences. One way of achieving this is to use ecological interface design (EID) techniques. This article presents part of the formative human-centred design process for developing the in-car display through a series of rapid prototyping studies comparing EID against conventional interface design principles. We focus primarily on the visual display, although some development of an ecological auditory display is also presented. The results of feedback from potential users as well as subject matter experts are discussed with respect to implications for future interface design in this field.

Universal Methodology for Iterative User Centered HMI Development and Testing

Large scale research projects often follow a holistic approach and investigate on solutions for a variety of stakeholders. Many times the holistic system includes interfaces for different users. This paper presents a universal development and testing methodology that guides the common development and testing of very different interfaces within a universal framework. The methodology is based on the systems engineering v-model and the international norm for a human-centred design processes for interactive systems (EN ISO 13407).The development process following this universal methodology is described by using as an example the interfaces developed within the EC funded SAFEWAY2SCHOOL project. The development included interfaces for in-vehicle information, pedestrian information on smartphones and a web-based inventory tool interface for data collection.

Involving the End-Users in the Development of Language Learning Material

Printed and digital learning materials are usually developed separately. Therefore, little notice has been given to the possibilities of combining the two. This study introduces a new concept that combines printed and digital materials. A user-centric approach was chosen to develop a “hybrid book”, a combination of a traditional schoolbook and a mobile phone. Learning materials were combined into one entity by enabling access to the digital material through images in the book. The user groups of interest were 11- and 12-year-old pupils, their teachers, and parents. The concept was tested with materials for English as a foreign language (EFL). After a human-centred design process, the final application was given to one class for actual use and evaluation for a period of three weeks. Many potential benefits of using mobile phones for learning purposes were recognized, as they facilitated utilization of the digital content both inside and outside the classroom.

Application of Human Centered Design Process to Human Interface Design and Development

Application of Human Centered Design Process to Human Interface Design and Development

Rimdas: A Proposed System for Reducing Runway Incursions

FEATURE AT A GLANCE: To address the increasingly serious problem of runway incursions at airports, we developed a novel design based on inexpensive sensor technology and a hybrid cognitive engineering development plan. Alerting time and monetary costs were critical factors in the creation of a low-cost, scalable, and flexible system that can directly warn pilots and air traffic controllers of impending incursions. This article describes the human-centered design process used to develop an alternative to current runway incursion prevention systems. Because it is cost-effective, the system could be employed at nearly any airport regardless of size or budget.