Interdisciplinary Design Teams Research Articles

Embedding textile capacitive sensing into smart wearables as a versatile solution for human motion capturing

This work presents a novel and versatile approach to employ textile capacitive sensing as an effective solution for capturing human body movement through fashionable and everyday-life garments. Conductive textile patches are utilized for sensing the movement, working without the need for strain or direct body contact, wherefore the patches can sense only from their deformation within the garment. This principle allows the sensing area to be decoupled from the wearer’s body for improved wearing comfort and more pleasant integration. We demonstrate our technology based on multiple prototypes which have been developed by an interdisciplinary team of electrical engineers, computer scientists, digital artists, and smart fashion designers through several iterations to seamlessly incorporate the technology of capacitive sensing with corresponding design considerations into textile materials. The resulting accumulation of textile capacitive sensing wearables showcases the versatile application possibilities of our technology from single-joint angle measurements towards multi-joint body part tracking.

Adapting an Intervention to Improve Acute Myocardial Infarction Care in Tanzania: Co-Design of the MIMIC Intervention.

Uptake of evidence-based care for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is suboptimal in Tanzania, but there are currently no published interventions to improve AMI care in sub-Saharan Africa. Co-design a quality improvement intervention for AMI care tailored to local contextual factors. An interdisciplinary design team consisting of 20 physicians, nurses, implementation scientists, and administrators met from June 2022 through August 2023. Half of the design team consisted of representatives from the target audience, emergency department physicians and nurses at a referral hospital in northern Tanzania. The design team reviewed multiple published quality improvement interventions focusing on ED-based AMI care. After selecting a multicomponent intervention to improve AMI care in Brazil (BRIDGE-ACS), the design team used the ADAPT-ITT framework to adapt the intervention to the local context. The design team audited current AMI care processes at the study hospital and reviewed qualitative data regarding barriers to care. Multiple adaptations were made to the original BRIDGE-ACS intervention to suit the local context, including re-designing the physician reminder system and adding patient educational materials. Additional feedback was sought from topical experts, including patients with AMI. Draft intervention materials were iteratively refined in response to feedback from experts and the design team. The finalized intervention, Multicomponent Intervention to Improve Myocardial Infarction Care in Tanzania (MIMIC), consisted of five core components: physician reminders, pocket cards, champions, provider training, and patient education. MIMIC is the first locally tailored intervention to improve AMI care in sub-Saharan Africa. Future studies will evaluate implementation outcomes and efficacy.

Understanding Collaborative Design Practice Through Self-Study

Designing online teacher professional development (oTPD) grounded in participatory practices is complex. An intense interdisciplinary collaboration of teacher educators, online learning experts, and instructional designers is needed. Achieving shared understanding is essential for successful collaboration, yet varied perspectives of interdisciplinary experts can cause tensions. Under the right conditions, conflict can be positive and productive. This study of collaborative design practice examined the process of aligning technology and pedagogy when designing participatory oTPD using the self-study methodology. Data analysis revealed relevant interrelationships and uncovered a consistent pattern related to purposeful use of technology. While self-study was an effective inquiry method and provided valuable insights into our practice, it also fostered an environment of trust and collaborative knowledge exchange necessary for successful joint problem solving, cognitive synchronization, and innovation in interdisciplinary design teams.

OTC SENIOR STATION: CONSUMER-FACING TECHNOLOGY TO PROMOTE MEDICATION SAFETY

Abstract Over-the-counter (OTC) medications with anticholinergic effects (e.g. doxylamine, diphenhydramine) are widely used by older adults, despite their association with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Authoritative bodies, such as the American Geriatrics Society and National Academy of Medicine, recommend discouraging the use of both prescription and OTC anticholinergics. However, most interventions previously developed and tested have targeted only prescription anticholinergics despite the use rate of OTC anticholinergics being higher in older adult populations. Consumer-facing technology may be ideal for addressing OTC anticholinergic use as it is cost effective, scalable, and can address the constraints of relying on busy pharmacists to intervene during older adult OTC medication purchases; this has become especially relevant as pharmacies face staffing shortages, increasing pharmacist workload and requiring pharmacies adjust their hours of operation. Our interdisciplinary team of pharmacists, engineers, and designers engaged both older adults and pharmacy staff in the co-design of “OTC Senior Station”: a user-centered, consumer-facing kiosk to be placed in community pharmacies to promote reduced anticholinergic use by older adults. Kiosk users are prompted to input brief information, which is used to present safer alternatives to OTC anticholinergics (e.g., for insomnia management). This poster will present OTC Senior Station--what we believe to be the first consumer-facing technology to target OTC anticholinergic use—the participatory design methods used to create it, and the results of studies to assess its usability with older adults.

Designing and manufacturing custom-made 3D printed assistive devices: A comparison of three workflows

BACKGROUND: Do-it-yourself technologies such as 3D printing offer interesting opportunities for creating custom-made assistive devices for people with disabilities. Although these opportunities are increasingly acknowledged, it remains unclear how 3D printing technology should be implemented in assistive devices delivery processes. OBJECTIVE: In three separate action research projects carried out in Belgium, Italy and The Netherlands, workflows were designed and evaluated that incorporate 3D printing as a standard option for providing clients with suitable assistive devices. METHODS: In this paper we describe and compare the three workflows that were conceived simultaneously, yet independently from each other. RESULTS: Based on the evaluations of these workflows, and the experiences of the researchers who developed the workflows, we provide recommendations for implementing 3D printing as a common approach in assistive device delivery processes in practice. Most importantly, designing and manufacturing should be done by means of a client-centered co-creation process by interdisciplinary teams of clinicians, clients, and 3D printing experts. We provide several recommendations for facilitating and supporting collaborations within such teams. CONCLUSIONS: The three workflows presented in this paper are strikingly similar and therefore provide a convincing starting point for interdisciplinary design teams who wish to embark on 3D printing custom-made assistive devices.

User Selection and Engagement for Climate Services Coproduction

Abstract Climate services are high on the international agenda for their potential to help combat the effects of climate change. However, climate science is rarely directly incorporated into the decision-making processes of societal actors, due to what has been identified as the usability gap. This gap is partially due to a failure to timely and meaningfully engage users in the production of climate services, as well as misperceptions as to which users can best benefit from climate service uptake. In this article, we propose user selection and engagement guidelines that integrate important values from participatory science such as those of legitimacy, representativity, and agency. The guidelines consist of 5 + 1 steps: defining why, where, whom, which attributes, and which intensity and how to select and engage with stakeholders. While these steps may be initially implemented by an ideally interdisciplinary team of scientists and service designers, the final step consists of an iterative process by which each decision is agreed on together with the identified users and stakeholders under a coproduction approach. We believe this systematic user selection and engagement practice is key to support the design of climate services aligned to the actual needs of a wide and inclusive range of empowered societal agents. Significance Statement A review of the climate science and services literature and related research projects reveals that, despite the insistence to include users in all stages of the research process, users are often involved only sporadically and inconsistently and when there is little room to change the climate service suitable for decision-making. Here, we argue that a reason for this is the lack of user selection and engagement guidelines. Failure to implement a research design strategy for these decisions can lead to a lack of usability and applicability of the produced climate-related services, as well as hampering their long-term uptake. These guidelines can thus support the development of usable, coproduced, actionable climate science.

Connected design decision networks: Multidisciplinary decision support for early building design LCA

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become the standard method to evaluate environmental impact throughout the life cycle of buildings. However, detailed data about the future building as well as knowledge about the mutual influence of decisions concerning the various disciplines involved are often missing in early design phases, otherwise known to bear the highest potential for emissions savings. Hence, a meaningful basis for decision making is lacking.This study suggests a method to digitally represent decisions and their interdependencies in early design phases and visualize their possible consequences for the life cycle of the future building. The method is based on identification of relevant processes and tasks concerning architecture and Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC). Decisions trees of these tasks are used as a point of departure. Connecting the decision trees to a multidimensional, Connected Design Decision Network (CDDN) enables an interdisciplinary design team to pinpoint strategic decision nodes with comparatively more interdependencies with other subsets and high influence on LCA results. We believe that a transparent decision making in early design stages can be valuable to both the design team as well as clients and contractors and bear potential for an increased mutual awareness minimizing late and expensive redesigns.

THE RESPONSIBLE DESIGNER: USING A HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACH TO CREATE AN ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR AD

Abstract Our interdisciplinary team of designers, computer scientists, and engineers have begun the development of a low-cost social robot called FRED (the Friendly Robot to Ease Dementia). FRED has a conversational capability which will allow the device to be used as assistive companions for people with AD, engaging conversation, assisting with reminders, playing simple games and music, and relieving caregivers of some of their responsibilities. FRED was created using 3-d printing technology and a single board computer based on raspberry Pi. Interaction between human and the system was implemented using the Mycroft open-source voice assistant. The overall cost of the robot is estimated to be less than $300, rendering it possible for wide distribution among the public. Our presentation will share results from our participatory focus group which helped assist in the design and interactions of FRED. This human-centered design approach included neurologists, healthy older adults, as well as ADRD patients and their caregivers. A common language of important terms (e.g., feedback, interface, training, cognitive assessment) to aid in initial conversations were implemented. A thinking-aloud protocol was adopted once we had a prototype of FRED, where users were able to express freely any problems and/or concerns during interaction. Insights from the thinking-aloud results were used to improve the user interface design to enable the users and robot to interact and collaborate in an effective, natural way. Feedback from the focus group were carefully documented and the results will be shared during our presentation.

A history of the MetaSUB consortium: Tracking urban microbes around the globe

SummaryThe MetaSUB Consortium, founded in 2015, is a global consortium with an interdisciplinary team of clinicians, scientists, bioinformaticians, engineers, and designers, with members from more than 100 countries across the globe. This network has continually collected samples from urban and rural sites including subways and transit systems, sewage systems, hospitals, and other environmental sampling. These collections have been ongoing since 2015 and have continued when possible, even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The consortium has optimized their workflow for the collection, isolation, and sequencing of DNA and RNA collected from these various sites and processing them for metagenomics analysis, including the identification of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. Here, the Consortium describes its foundations, and its ongoing work to expand on this network and to focus its scope on the mapping, annotation, and prediction of emerging pathogens, mapping microbial evolution and antibiotic resistance, and the discovery of novel organisms and biosynthetic gene clusters.

Intermediation in design as a practice of institutioning and commoning

Design practices often involve grassroots communities and institutional actors with designers working as or with intermediaries. This paper defines intermediation as a significant design practice, especially when designers engage in commoning and institutioning—concepts that have gained traction in recent discourses in design scholarship. To discuss intermediation, the paper introduces two case studies: a community radio project in Europe and a food supply chain project between Australia and China. The two cases show implicit and explicit ways that intermediation can form an integral part of the practices and competences of designers. The paper discusses the merits of intermediation skills and techniques as well as how intermediation can be better embedded and integrated in design practices. • Expands discourse on institutioning and commoning in participatory design research. • Makes explicit the so far largely implicit design skillset of intermediation practice. • Illustrates the argument with two design cases from Europe and Australia/China. • Argues for the merit of adding intermediaries to interdisciplinary design teams.

An Interdisciplinary Design of an Interactive Cultural Heritage Visit for In-Situ, Mixed Reality and Affective Experiences

Interactive technologies, such as mixed-reality and natural interactions with avatars, can enhance cultural heritage and the experience of visiting a museum. In this paper, we present the design rationale of an interactive experience for a cultural heritage place in the church of Roncesvalles at the beginning of Camino de Santiago. We followed a participatory design with a multidisciplinary team which resulted in the design of a spatial augmented reality system that employs 3D projection mapping and a conversational agent acting as the storyteller. Multiple features were identified as desirable for an interactive experience: interdisciplinary design team; in-situ; mixed reality; interactive digital storytelling; avatar; tangible objects; gestures; emotions and groups. The findings from a workshop are presented for guiding other interactive cultural heritage experiences.

Comparing the Impacts on Team Behaviors Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Process Management in Interdisciplinary Design Teams

Abstract This brief extends prior research by the authors on studying the impacts of interventions provided by either a human or an artificial intelligence (AI) process manager on team behaviors. Our earlier research found that a created AI process manager matched the capabilities of human process management. Here, these data are studied further to identify the impact of different types of interventions on team behaviors and outcomes. This deeper dive is done via two unique perspectives: comparing teams’ problem-solving processes before and after interventions are provided, and through a regression analysis between intervention counts and performance. Results show overall mixed adherence to the provided interventions, and that this adherence also depends on the intervention type. The most significant impact on the team process arises from the communication frequency interventions. Furthermore, a regression analysis identifies the interventions with the greatest correlation with team performance, indicating a better selection of interventions from the AI process manager. Paired together, the results show the feasibility of automated process management via AI and shed light on the effective implementation of intervention strategies for future development and deployment.

Considering the role of material gerontology in reimagining technology design for ageing populations

The promise of technology to provide solutions to the global concern of ageing populations has largely been unfulfilled. We argue that this is, in part, related to design processes that fail to take account of the rich material lives of older people, and that often adopt stereotypical views of older people as frail, vulnerable and unskilled. We draw on empirical data from two co-design projects, to suggest the contributions that material gerontologists could make to design teams creating technologies for ageing populations. We suggest material gerontologists bring three key elements to interdisciplinary design teams: (1) making visible the intra-action of humans and non-humans in co-design processes; (2) reconfiguring co-design response-ably with older adults; and (3) reimagining possible outcomes of technology design. We believe that this approach can result in the design of products, services and innovations that respond better to the heteroge­neous needs and life-worlds of older adults.

The challenges of parachute design: the development of a low cost, fit for purpose trauma pack for use in Namibia

This paper presents lessons learnt and recommendations for future studies attempting to apply a parachute design approach to design for Namibia. The focus of this project is the development of a low cost, fit for purpose trauma pack for use in Namibia. The project was undertaken by an interdisciplinary team of medics, designers and engineers in an effort to reduce high mortality rates that occur as a result of road traffic collisions in Namibia. The pack was developed through applying a human centred design (HCD) approach that calls upon Design Thinking and end-user engagement. The key focus of the paper is a design development process that responded to key findings from user testing and design for manufacture requirements. The design was guided by the World Health Organisation's (2010) Four A's: accessibility, availability, affordability and appropriateness.

Human-centered design process and solutions to promote malaria testing and treatment seeking behavior in Guyana hinterlands

BackgroundMalaria is a persistent public health challenge among miners and other hard-to-reach populations in Guyana’s hinterland, specifically in Regions 1, 7, 8, and 9. Despite an overall decrease in malaria prevalence throughout Guyana, it remains common among mining populations whose work conditions both contribute toward malaria transmission and make it difficult to seek timely, Ministry of Health (MoH) approved malaria testing and treatment services. In an effort to develop innovative approaches to address this public health challenge, an interdisciplinary team of public health professionals, designers, and mining organizations collaborated using a human-centered design (HCD) process facilitated by the USAID-funded Breakthrough ACTION Guyana project in partnership with the MoH.MethodsThis paper describes two phases: [1] Define and [2] Design & Test. In the Define phase, following a literature review, we conducted 108 qualitative interviews with miners, camp managers, trained malaria testers, health workers, and other key stakeholders to understand experiences and challenges when seeking malaria testing and treatment services. These interviews were synthesized into 11 insights on issues such as risk perception, malaria knowledge, preventive behaviors, traditional and self-treatment, adherence to the correct treatment, testing, and coordination and communication gaps. From these insights, during the Design & Test phase, we developed 33 “How might we…?” questions which led to 792 ideas, of which eight emergent concepts were prototyped and refined in the field with 145 miners, camp managers, and stakeholders.ResultsThe five final prototypes included: “Little Mosquito, Big Problem” social behavior change campaign; rapid counseling cards; branded malaria testing and treatment services; innovations in treatment adherence; and a participants, content, and logistics approach.ConclusionWhen applying HCD to public health issues, there are both opportunities and challenges to reconcile gaps that may exist between the two disciplines. However, HCD provides additional tools and mindsets to generatively work with migrant and mobile mining communities to encourage malaria testing and treatment services.

The Dilemmas of Teaching Dilemmas in a Foreign Language Classroom

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been widely incorporated in STEM classrooms. Unfortunately, its effectiveness for foreign language teaching is less explored. This design case describes the design and implementation process of a Chinese PBL unit in a US elementary school along with the design considerations of teaching dilemma-centered instruction. We provide detailed accounts of our process of developing this PBL curriculum, learning materials, and the two rounds of implementations. We also reflected on the design process and examined the design dilemmas faced by this interdisciplinary design team. Findings show multiple design tensions, which include balancing the language and PBL teaching goals, balancing L1 and L2 use, and the communication challenges within a collaborative design project.

DISTRIBUTED COGNITION TRANSFORMATION IN COMPLETE ONLINE SYSTEM ENGINEERING DESIGN TEACHING

AbstractEngineering design teams, particularly in academic courses, were no exception to the consequences of the unknown virus and the global pandemic. Forced online teaching has influenced the way of using communication technologies. The information flow architecture of engineering design is also transforming due to the remote activities and the dominancy of web-based technologies. This transformation creates different patterns of distributed cognition within design teams. In the course of full remote teaching, we studied the entire information flow of a small and dispersed engineering team through the early stages of design for one month using the ethnographic method and Distributed Cognition analysis techniques. Our analysis, of the interdisciplinary design team during a rocket engineering project and system engineering teaching, shows the considerable role of different online data sharing and communications technology platforms in distributed cognition and collaborative problem solving within the team. These new trends create new challenges and opportunities, and in order to enhance collaborative design, these emerged out of the box trends require more attention and updating of existing strategies.

Repenser les pédagogies de la littératie physique: utilisation du design thinking en tant qu’approche d'innovation

Clearly, physical literacy is a broad concept. Whilst the original term had strong philosophical orientations towards the concepts of phenomenology and existentialism, recent developments of the concept have largely focused on a more pragmatic interpretation in physical education, physical activity and sport; it appears that the application of the concept of physical literacy has led to a focus on learning more rudimentary skills. This has moved physical literacy away from its original and more holistic focus, intended by Whitehead (2007; 2013). The design challenge, therefore, is how to reimagine the pedagogy of physical literacy such that it remains relevant to its holistic origins. This is a complex problem to which we applied a human-centred innovation process called design thinking at a recent AIESEP workshop (with 92 stakeholders from 17 countries). In the workshop, teams innovated four new prototypes (solutions) in response to the problem statement. Across these prototypes, five core aspects of effective physical literacy pedagogy were identified using thematic analysis: (1) a life-long and life-wide focus; (2) Interdisciplinary design teams are needed to design and implement it; (3) the need for hybrid pedagogies i.e., both face-to-face and virtual; (4) space (virtual and physical) as an enabler; (5) how to nurture the symbiotic relationship between physical literacy and physical education. Further to this the D3 Prism of Innovation Praxis (Chambers & Sammon, in press) provided a sophisticated framework for this design challenge. It is intended to develop an overarching (prototype) solution which embraces these five aspects at a follow-on AIESEP workshop in 2021.

Ten steps to 4C/ID: training differentiation skills in a professional development program for teachers

This paper describes how an interdisciplinary design team used the Four-Component Instructional Design (4C/ID) model and its accompanying Ten Steps design approach to systematically design a professional development program for teaching differentiation skills to primary school teachers. This description illustrates how insights from a cognitive task analysis into classroom differentiation skills were combined with literature-based instructional design principles to arrive at the training blueprint for workplace-based learning. It demonstrates the decision-making processes involved in the systematic design of each of the four components: learning tasks, supportive information, procedural information, and part-task practice. While the design process was time and resource-intensive, it resulted in a detailed blueprint of a five-month professional development program that strategically combines learning activities to stimulate learning processes that are essential for developing the complex skill providing differentiated instruction in a mathematics lesson.

Designing educative curriculum materials in interdisciplinary teams: designer processes and contributions

Educative curricula support teacher learning as well as the learning of students. High quality educative curricula contain features that help teachers customize learning opportunities and environments in ways that meet the needs of their learners. Designing these features requires expertise related to subject matter content, pedagogy, teacher and student learning, and instructional design. In other words, it requires interdisciplinary team work – which is notoriously challenging. To understand and support collaborative interdisciplinary design processes, a retrospective case study was conducted on interdisciplinary design team work that yielded a high quality educative curriculum for inquiry-based science learning. Design documents and transcripts of interviews with six designers (a cognitive psychologist, a practising physicist, and four science educators) were analyzed to identify their contributions during the phases of analysis, development, and evaluation to create educative features for developing pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Findings articulate specific educative features that can contribute to supporting PCK and thereby supporting instructional performance. Findings also reveal the proactive and reactive nature of designer contributions, describing different ways in which designers provide specialized inputs from a disciplinary perspective. Further, this study shows how designer contributions intermeshed, with contributions from one discipline shaping the work of colleagues, and thereby coordinating varied inputs to yield coherent educative materials. In addition, theoretical insights and recommendations for research on the nature of collaborative interdisciplinary design processes and implications for practice are given for supporting designers working in interdisciplinary teams to create educative curriculum materials for teacher (and student) learning.