Participatory Design Workshops Research Articles

Leveraging Chatbots to Combat Health Misinformation for Older Adults: Participatory Design Study.

Older adults, a population particularly susceptible to misinformation, may experience attempts at health-related scams or defrauding, and they may unknowingly spread misinformation. Previous research has investigated managing misinformation through media literacy education or supporting users by fact-checking information and cautioning for potential misinformation content, yet studies focusing on older adults are limited. Chatbots have the potential to educate and support older adults in misinformation management. However, many studies focusing on designing technology for older adults use the needs-based approach and consider aging as a deficit, leading to issues in technology adoption. Instead, we adopted the asset-based approach, inviting older adults to be active collaborators in envisioning how intelligent technologies can enhance their misinformation management practices. This study aims to understand how older adults may use chatbots' capabilities for misinformation management. We conducted 5 participatory design workshops with a total of 17 older adult participants to ideate ways in which chatbots can help them manage misinformation. The workshops included 3 stages: developing scenarios reflecting older adults' encounters with misinformation in their lives, understanding existing chatbot platforms, and envisioning how chatbots can help intervene in the scenarios from stage 1. We found that issues with older adults' misinformation management arose more from interpersonal relationships than individuals' ability to detect misinformation in pieces of information. This finding underscored the importance of chatbots to act as mediators that facilitate communication and help resolve conflict. In addition, participants emphasized the importance of autonomy. They desired chatbots to teach them to navigate the information landscape and come to conclusions about misinformation on their own. Finally, we found that older adults' distrust in IT companies and governments' ability to regulate the IT industry affected their trust in chatbots. Thus, chatbot designers should consider using well-trusted sources and practicing transparency to increase older adults' trust in the chatbot-based tools. Overall, our results highlight the need for chatbot-based misinformation tools to go beyond fact checking. This study provides insights for how chatbots can be designed as part of technological systems for misinformation management among older adults. Our study underscores the importance of inviting older adults to be active co-designers of chatbot-based interventions.

Socially Assistive Robots and Sensory Feedback for Engaging Older Adults in Cognitive Activities

Motivating older adults to engage in cognitive activities has the potential to slow cognitive decline. This paper presents a Participatory Design (PD) workshop and follow-up prototype evaluation to determine how cognitive training activities can be adapted to integrate socially assistive robots and sensory feedback (visual, auditory, and haptic, specifically). The workshop with older adults and therapists resulted in concrete designs and strategies for engagement. The second phase of this work was to implement these outcomes into a prototype that incorporated a humanoid robot and sensory feedback, with a particular focus on haptic feedback. The evaluation with eight older adults supported the potential of hand tracking with sensory feedback as an interaction mechanism to foster engagement, where the increased workload notably led to high levels of engagement. The prototype results confirmed the strategies and designs from the PD workshop were effective as a way of engaging older adults in cognitive activities. This paper highlights the potential for the unique combination of socially assistive robots and sensory feedback to promote older adults’ engagement in cognitive activities.

Development of a Novel Mobile Health App to Empower Young People With Type 1 Diabetes to Exercise Safely: Co-Design Approach.

Blood glucose management around exercise is challenging for youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Previous research has indicated interventions including decision-support aids to better support youth to effectively contextualize blood glucose results and take appropriate action to optimize glucose levels during and after exercise. Mobile health (mHealth) apps help deliver health behavior interventions to youth with T1D, given the use of technology for glucose monitoring, insulin dosing, and carbohydrate counting. We aimed to develop a novel prototype mHealth app to support exercise management among youth with T1D, detail the application of a co-design process and design thinking principles to inform app design and development, and identify app content and functionality that youth with T1D need to meet their physical activity goals. A co-design approach with a user-centered design thinking framework was used to develop a prototype mHealth app "acT1ve" during the 18-month design process (March 2018 to September 2019). To better understand and respond to the challenges among youth with diabetes when physically active, 10 focus groups were conducted with youth aged 13-25 years with T1D and parents of youth with T1D. Thereafter, we conducted participatory design workshops with youth to identify key app features that would support individual needs when physically active. These features were incorporated into a wireframe, which was critically reviewed by participants. A beta version of "acT1ve" was built in iOS and android operating systems, which underwent critical review by end users, clinicians, researchers, experts in exercise and T1D, and app designers. Sixty youth with T1D, 14 parents, 6 researchers, and 10 clinicians were engaged in the development of "acT1ve." acT1ve included key features identified by youth, which would support their individual needs when physically active. It provided advice on carbohydrates and insulin during exercise, information on hypoglycemia treatment, pre- and postexercise advice, and an educational food guide regarding exercise management. "acT1ve" contained an exercise advisor algorithm comprising 240 pathways developed by experts in diabetes and exercise research. Based on participant input during exercise, acT1ve provided personalized insulin and carbohydrate advice for exercise lasting up to 60 minutes. It also contains other features including an activity log, which displays a complete record of the end users' activities and associated exercise advice provided by the app's algorithm for later reference, and regular reminder notifications for end users to check or monitor their glucose levels. The co-design approach and the practical application of the user-centered design thinking framework were successfully applied in developing "acT1ve." The design thinking processes allowed youth with T1D to identify app features that would support them to be physically active, and particularly enabled the delivery of individualized advice. Furthermore, app development has been described in detail to help guide others embarking on a similar project. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12619001414101; https://tinyurl.com/mu9jvn2d.

“It answers questions that I didn’t know I had”: PhD students’ evaluation of an information-sharing knowledge graph

PurposeInterdisciplinary PhD programs can be challenging as the vital information needed by students may not be readily available; it is scattered across the university’s websites, while tacit knowledge can be obtained only by interacting with people. Hence, there is a need to develop a knowledge management model to create, query and maintain a knowledge repository for interdisciplinary students. This study aims to propose a knowledge graph containing information on critical categories (faculty, classes, dissertations, etc.) and their relationships, extracted from multiple sources, essential for interdisciplinary PhD students. This study evaluates the usability of a participatory-designed knowledge graph intended to facilitate information exchange and decision-making.MethodologyThe authors used data from multiple sources (such as university websites, faculty profiles, publication and dissertation metadata and crowdsourced data) to generate a knowledge graph in the Neo4J Bloom platform. The authors recruited 15 interdisciplinary PhD students using convenience sampling from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa at various PhD stages to design and populate the knowledge graph. Next, the authors conducted a mixed methods study to perform its usability evaluation. First, the authors engaged the students in a participatory design workshop to identify relevant graph queries. Second, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews to determine the usability of the knowledge graph and rate the queries. Each interview was coded with structural and thematic codes and was further analyzed using sentiment analysis in R programming language.FindingsThe usability findings demonstrate that interaction with this knowledge graph benefits PhD students by notably reducing uncertainty and academic stress, particularly among newcomers. Knowledge graph supported them in decision-making, especially when choosing collaborators (e.g. supervisor or dissertation committee members) in an interdisciplinary setting. Key helpful features are related to exploring student–faculty networks, milestones tracking, rapid access to aggregated data and insights into crowdsourced fellow students’ activities. However, they showed concerns about crowdsourced data privacy and accessibility. Although participants expressed the need for more qualitative data in the graph, they noted it helped identify people to talk to about the topics of their interest.OriginalityThe knowledge graph provides a solution to meet the personalized needs of doctoral researchers and has the potential to improve the information discovery and decision-making process substantially. It also includes the tacit knowledge exchange support missing from most current approaches, which is critical for this population and establishing interdisciplinary collaborations. This approach can be applied to other interdisciplinary programs and domains globally.

Co-designing of a prototype mobile application for fetal radiation dose monitoring among pregnant radiographers using a design thinking approach.

This study aimed to develop a prototype mobile application to enhance fetal dosimetry among pregnant radiographers in #### through a design thinking approach. Eleven participants were recruited to engage in a participatory design workshop, which encompassed five stages: Empathise, Ideate, Define, Prototype and Test. The participants were divided into two teams. Qualitative datasets from the workshop included field notes and FIGMA screens. The data were analysed through thematic analysis, from which three major themes emerged: (1) Unsafe working environments for pregnant radiographers, (2) The need for enhanced fetal radiation dose monitoring by pregnant radiographers as an occupational health and safety requirement, and (3) Co-designing of the prototype mobile application, PregiDose. The participants contributed towards a prototype mobile application which addressed challenges experienced in the real-life setting. Hence, the prototype can be used as an effective framework by which to guide the development of the final artefact.

How did COVID-19 pandemic affect the older adults' needs for robot technologies in Japan?: comparison of participatory design workshops during versus after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social technology can improve the quality of social lives of older adults (OAs) and mitigate negative mental and physical health outcomes. When people engage with technology, they can do so to stimulate social interaction (stimulation hypothesis) or disengage from their real world (disengagement hypothesis), according to Nowland et al.'s model of the relationship between social Internet use and loneliness. External events, such as large periods of social isolation like during the COVID-19 pandemic, can also affect whether people use technology in line with the stimulation or disengagement hypothesis. We examined how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the social challenges OAs faced and their expectations for robot technology to solve their challenges. We conducted two participatory design (PD) workshops with OAs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, OAs' primary concern was distanced communication with family members, with a prevalent desire to assist them through technology. They also wanted to share experiences socially, as such OA's attitude toward technology could be explained mostly by the stimulation hypothesis. However, after COVID-19 the pandemic, their focus shifted towards their own wellbeing. Social isolation and loneliness were already significant issues for OAs, and these were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, such OAs' attitudes toward technology after the pandemic could be explained mostly by the disengagement hypothesis. This clearly reflect the OA's current situation that they have been getting further digitally excluded due to rapid technological development during the pandemic. Both during and after the pandemic, OAs found it important to have technologies that were easy to use, which would reduce their digital exclusion. After the pandemic, we found this especially in relation to newly developed technologies meant to help people keep at a distance. To effectively integrate these technologies and avoid excluding large parts of the population, society must address the social challenges faced by OAs.

Design-led solutions for reducing airline food waste: A participatory approach to develop behaviour change interventions

Airline food waste is a critical issue which is affected by passenger behaviour. In parallel with the unexpected advent of COVID-19, passengers have exhibited changes in eating behaviour, generating more food waste during flights. In this paper, the authors explore and reflect on the use of participatory design workshops conducted with designers and airline passengers with the aim to develop behaviour change interventions towards reducing airline food waste. This paper identifies seven types of behaviour change intervention, whilst empirically evidencing the effectiveness of participatory design in facilitating the development of behaviour change interventions, towards achieving airline food waste reduction.

Scoping user needs for an online nutrition education resource for older adults

As the global population continues to age, strategies that promote health and wellbeing among older adults are urgently required. This demographic faces an increasing burden of chronic diseases linked to inflammation(1), often associated with diets that are energy dense and nutrient poor(2). Importantly, the impact of these conditions can be minimised by adopting an anti-inflammatory dietary pattern, such as the Mediterranean diet(3). While there are numerous predictors of behaviour and an individual’s capacity for behaviour change, nutrition knowledge is a fundamental influencer of eating behaviours(4). However, knowledge of anti-inflammatory diets generally and the Mediterranean diet specifically is lacking among older adults(5), highlighting the need for effective educational programs targeting this group. Digital health technologies have the potential to provide cost-effective and accessible nutrition education, however, few technologies have been developed to meet older adults unique needs and preferences. To address this gap, this study aimed to explore the specific needs and design preferences of older adults for an online nutrition education resource. A total of 20 adults aged 55 years and older participated in one of four 2-hour participatory design workshops, where prompted discussion questions were used to explore their use of technology and scope their needs and preferences for an online nutrition education resource. All participants were regularly using a range of different devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, and computers) and reported being comfortable doing so. Participants wanted a website that could be accessed across devices (i.e., desktop and mobile friendly) that provided practical nutrition advice, recipes, and information on the link between diet and disease. A number of design principles were identified as essential to optimise the user experience, including large and simple fonts, use of dark type on a light background, and clear categories for easy navigation. To enhance engagement, participants sought a personalised resource that could be adjusted to suit their needs, provided up-to-date information, and allowed for easy content sharing with others, such as by exporting information as a PDF. Participatory design methods offer new knowledge for developing and refining existing and future digital health technologies that are appropriate and useful for the target audience. Specifically, the older adult participants were motivated to access a user-friendly web-based nutrition resource provided it was able to be personalised to their health and nutrition needs, offered practical solutions such as adaptations to portion size or in relation to cost, and was easily shareable with others. Given the limited availability of online, self-directed and evidence-based nutrition education resources for older adults, these findings provide valuable insights to shape digital health resources that cater to the needs and preferences of this population and have the potential to support healthy eating habits and contribute to reducing diet-related chronic disease burden.

Touchless Interaction for Smart Glasses in Emergency Medical Services: User Needs and Experiences

The application of smart glasses in healthcare, particularly for providers engaged in hands-on patient care tasks, presents unique design challenges. This study combines participatory design and usability testing to assess the user experiences of touchless interaction methods for smart glasses in the context of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The participatory design workshops with 16 EMS providers reveal a preference for touchless interaction methods such as voice commands and pinch hand gestures, driven by the need to keep hands free and minimize cross-contamination risk. Despite this preference, the laboratory-based usability testing with 16 EMS providers indicates that both voice commands and hand gestures fall short in task performance compared to the default tangible buttons on smart glasses, primarily due to software limitations and EMS providers’ unfamiliarity with touchless techniques. Our findings reveal specific issues associated with using different interaction methods when operating smart glasses. Building on these insights, we discuss design implications for smart glasses to better align with the dynamic and unique characteristics of fast-paced medical work.

Online education in design disciplines: factors influencing the interactive experience of group learning

There has been much previous research into online group learning, but they have not been aware of or focused on the challenges that design disciplines encounter in terms of interaction when moving to online delivery. This qualitative study comprised 3 participatory design workshops and 22 one-to-one interviews that included a total of 34 teachers and students from the School of Design at the University of Leeds. Participants reported the challenges and feelings they encountered in online group learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that the interactive experience of group learning is mainly influenced by the size of the group, the layout of the platform interface, the teacher’s management style and the conflict within the group, with more far-reaching discussions providing specific questions and subtle suggestions. The article’s findings can inform future strategies for online group learning for students and teachers of design disciplines in design higher education institutions.

A Reworking on the Cow Dung Waste Concern into Design

Globally, environmental pollution stemming from livestock waste remains a widespread and unresolved concern. The contamination resulting from such waste can have adverse effects on both air and water quality, impacting not only livestock owners but also neighboring non-farming communities. This paper focuses specifically on the case study of cow dung waste accumulation in the local ditches of a Cattle Farmers' village in West Java called Bukatanah Village to discuss socio-environmental concerns. Our ongoing research closely aligns with exploring the potential of residents in Bukatanah Village to address the environmental issues prevalent in their living areas. Moreover, this paper is dedicated to illustrating the significance of co-designing the concept in collaboration with the local community rather than imposing a top-down approach in the village. The process is shaped by a series of design ethnography observations, participatory design workshops, material exploration, and project evaluation stages. This paper illustrates a rethinking of solving environmental problems by engaging the locals in "design-making" activities. As a method, the concept of participatory design conducted by the PP-PBL ITB team becomes crucial to be implemented for gaining mutual ideas together with the locals. The research-initiated collaborative system empowers Bukatanah Village residents, fostering creativity and creating home-based business opportunities. This is a continued focus in multidisciplinary community development research, encompassing participatory design and ethnography methods in the process.

Imagining inclusive technological futures through participatory board game design

In 2021, we conducted a series of experimental participatory design workshops that brought diverse groups of participants together to create a board game. The purpose of this project was to use participatory game design as a provocative medium for exploring questions about and ideas for more inclusive and desirable technological futures. This paper presents a report of our experiences conducting this project, reflecting on critical aspects of its creation, facilitation, and outcomes. Through reporting on this reflective practice, we present three key findings that were instrumental in fostering a space for imaginaries of more inclusive and desirable technological futures to emerge. Firstly, through an experimental participatory design structure that promotes polyvocality in the project. Secondly, through applying a critical framework that allowed the game design activities to serve as means for reflecting on social and technological topics. Lastly, by using the affordances of game design to collectively explore ideas for more desirable technological futures. In conclusion, this paper provides methodological insights and possible practical applications of participatory game design for bringing more inclusivity into discussions about, decision-making around, and possibly even the design of future technologies.

Abstract C109: Identifying implementation strategies to support cervical cancer screening programs in resource-limited countries through participatory action research

Abstract Background: Improving the adoption and integration of cervical cancer screening programs in resource-limited countries requires engaging with many local health system actors. We hypothesize that participatory design workshops co-developed by researchers, health system practitioners, and policy makers, facilitate rapid engagement to identify context-specific priorities and tailor strategies to improve implementation processes. Methods: With the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MOH), we co-designed a week-long workshop with health system actors (planners, providers, lab technicians) from the North District of Lima city. Through facilitated dialogue, participants engaged in self-reflection to map the cervical cancer screening and follow-up system, visualize system barriers, and identify potential solutions. As research partners, we analyzed findings from the workshop using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, a framework from implementation science that identifies multilevel contextual factors that influence program implementation and guides the tailoring of strategies for improvement. Results: We identified three key context-specific challenges including 1) power hierarchies between specialists and midwives that obstruct the efficiency of screening services, 2) the complexities around communicating screening results, appointments, and referrals, are burdensome for patients and cause loss to follow up, and 3) implementation plans are not adequately matched to resources and workforce capacity. We identified feasible implementation strategies to address these challenges including 1) develop relationships between midwives and specialists through facilitated discussions to surface assumptions and align screening goals, 2) co-create counseling tools to help patients understand results and follow up steps for early detection and treatment of precancerous lesion that also reduce patients’ burden, and 3) Apply design workshops with key actors to develop an implementation plans to guide processes, acceptable adaptations, clinical workflows, and planning (ordering tests, supplies, training human resources, etc.) to align goals to prevention objectives and resources. Conclusions: Engaging with health systems actors through participatory action research is a strategy that enables collective learning, identifying context-specific priorities, and developing tailored implementation strategies that are likely to accelerate integration of sustainable cervical cancer screening programs globally. Citation Format: Margarita Correa-Mendez. Identifying implementation strategies to support cervical cancer screening programs in resource-limited countries through participatory action research [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr C109.

Older adults'needs and preferences for a nutrition education digital health solution: A participatory design study.

The global population is ageing rapidly and there is a need for strategies to promote health and wellbeing among older adults. Nutrition knowledge is a key predictor of dietary intake; therefore, effective educational programmes are urgently required to rectify poor dietary patterns. Digital health technologies provide a viable option for delivering nutrition education that is cost-effective and widely accessible. However, few technologies have been developed to meet the unique needs and preferences of older adults. The aim of this study was to explore technology use among older adults and qualitatively determine the content needs and design preferences for an online nutrition education resource tailored to older adult consumers in Australia. Twenty adult participants aged 55 years and older (95% female) participated in one of four 2-h participatory design workshops. In each workshop, prompted discussion questions were used to explore participants' technology use and preferencesand to explore content needs and design preferences for an online nutrition education resource specific to older adults. All participants were regularly using a range of different devices (e.g., smartphones, tabletsand computers) and reported being comfortable doing so. Participants wanted a website that provided general nutrition information, practical adviceand recipes. To enhance engagement, they sought a personalised resource that could be adjusted to suit their needs, included up-to-date informationand allowed for easy sharing with others by exporting information as a PDF. Participatory design methods generate new knowledge for designing and tailoring digital health technologies to be appropriate and useful for the target audience. Specifically, older adults seek an online resource that has large and simple fonts with clear categories, providing them with practical advice and general nutrition information that can be personalised to suit their own needs and health concerns, with the option to export and print information into a paper-based format. Older adults actively participated in the development and evaluation process to generate ideas about potential features, functionalities, uses and practicalities of an online nutrition education resource.

Designing Multi-Modal Conversational Agents for the Kitchen with Older Adults: A Participatory Design Study

AbstractConversational agents (CA) are increasingly used to manage and coordinate household chores and everyday activities at home. However, these technologies should be adaptive to age-specific characteristics in order to be considered beneficial for the ageing population. This study presents a participatory design of a conversational agent to provide cognitive support in recipe following and nutrition advice for adults aged 65 and over. Through a qualitative thematic analysis, the study explores older adults’ expectations, interactions and experiences with the agent in order to identify age-specific challenges of interacting with CAs. Data consists of a participatory design workshop with eight older adults (aged 65 and over), followed by a Wizard of Oz study with ten older adults interacting with the agent in the kitchen environment in a laboratory setting. Results demonstrate that older adults consider conversational agents as beneficial for providing personalised recipe recommendations, advising the user to choose appropriate ingredients and reminding them of their dietary intake. When interacting with the agent older adults displayed challenges with confirmation and repetition, questioning and correcting, the lack of conversational responses, and difficulties in hearing and understanding the multi-modal interaction. Older adults experience agents as collaborators, but not as conversational partners. The study concludes that the accessibility and inclusiveness of conversational agents regarding voice interaction could be improved by further developing participatory methods with older adults.

Thinking Participatory Design work-shops in the presence of cosmopolitics

This paper is a written version of a presentation held at DASTS 2022 as part of a panel session organized by Mike Michael, Alex Wilkie, Michael Guggenheim and the author. The idea behind the panel, inspired by laboratory studies in STS, was to propose a focus on workshops as ‘worldbuilding’ events, which implies a close scrutiny of how workshops are constructed and carried out and to what effect. Along the lines of Annemarie Mol’s ontological politics and Isabelle Stengers’ cosmopolitics, workshops are not just spaces in which we explore and experiment with ideas and concepts that may or may not be realized at some point: they shape reality from the get-go. In the paper, I thus discuss Participatory Design (PD) workshops by way of Isabelle Stengers’ cosmopolitical and constructivist thinking. My discussion is based on a few but key publications from the field of PD such as the Handbook of Participatory Design (Simonsen & Robertson, 2012).

Stress Alleviation Methods for community-Based Health ActiVists (SAMBHAV): Development of a digital program for stress reduction for community health workers in rural India

BackgroundCommunity health workers (CHWs) face high levels of stress (both professional and personal) and risk of burnout, highlighting the need for efforts to promote their mental health and well-being. This study seeks to develop a digital stress reduction program for CHWs in rural India. MethodsA stepwise design process was employed to adapt and digitize the evidence-based World Health Organization's Self-Help Plus (SH+) intervention for addressing psychological distress among CHWs in Madhya Pradesh, India. This involved participatory design workshops with CHWs to ensure that the digital stress reduction intervention would be relevant for their needs and the local culture and context. Small groups of CHWs reviewed the adapted program content, allowing the research team to make refinements such as simplifying language, tailoring content to the local setting, and ensuring that program materials are both interesting and relevant. Simultaneously, the research team digitized the content, leveraging a combination of video and graphical content, and uploaded it to the Sangath Learning Management System, a digital platform accessible on a smartphone app. ResultsIn total, 18 CHWs contributed to the adaptation of the SH+ content and digital intervention development. Participants commented on finding some terms difficult to follow and recommended simplifying the language and providing detailed explanations. Participants offered positive feedback on the adapted content, expressing that they found the examples covered in the material both relatable and relevant to their own personal experiences at home and in the workplace. By combining participants’ insights and comments with feedback from content experts, it was possible to finalize a digital Hindi version of the SH+ intervention for CHWs in rural India. ConclusionsThis study is timely given the continued detrimental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers a promising and potentially scalable digital program to alleviate psychological distress among frontline health workers.

Connecting citizens through participatory design activities: Lessons from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Construction of affordable housing in Malaysia has been one of the national objectives set by its government, ensuring low-income families have access to adequate housing. This paper discusses the perceptions and the needs of residents for the development of single-family housing units for low-income families in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia based on the outcomes from participatory design activities in the city. As part of these activities, a series of six focus groups and participatory design workshops were conducted in Kuala Lumpur. The findings from these interactive sessions are to be used in the development of proposals for new housing in the city built for low-income families, advocating for consideration of the views of the residents in the design process.

Participatory Design Workshops: Interdisciplinary Encounters within a Collaborative Digital Heritage Project

This article aims to investigate how participatory design influences interdisciplinary relationships in digital heritage projects. In particular, the article reflects on opportunities and challenges of interdisciplinary encounters in participatory design, with the cross-border project “Terra Mosana” as a case study, which aims to investigate, digitalize, and communicate the shared heritage of the Meuse–Rhine Euregion (EMR). Terra Mosana is a collaboration between multiple partners from municipalities, museums, cultural heritage sites, and universities in different EMR cities. Partners of the project have different backgrounds that vary from archaeologists, historians, and heritage professionals to computer scientists, developers, and communication specialists. My role in this project focused on designing and organizing several participatory design workshops with citizens of the EMR, aiming to empower and enable them to share their views about their shared history, and what they want from museums and other cultural institutions. Those workshops play a crucial role in the project by creating meaningful connections across the different disciplines involved in the project. In this article, I focus on the negotiation processes between the partners involved: What challenges were they confronted with? How did they arrive at creative solutions, and which issues remained unresolved? My analysis does not draw only on my participatory observation of workshops, but also on a focus group discussion that invited the partners to reflect on and assess the collaborative process.

Wrist-Worn devices to encourage affected upper limb movement in unilateral cerebral palsy: Participatory design workshops.

Unilateral (Hemiplegic) cerebral palsy (UCP) causes weakness and stiffness affecting one sided of the body, often impacting activities of daily living. Upper limb therapy at effective intensity is not accessible to most. To determine stakeholder views on design of an approach using wrist-worn devices and a smartphone application to encourage use of the affected upper limb for children with hemiplegia. Four participatory design workshops and one young people's advisory group workshop incorporating views of five young people with hemiplegia, 13 typically developing peers aged 8-18 years, four parents, three occupational therapists, one teacher and two paediatricians. Two special educational needs co-ordinators were consulted separately. Peers were included to explore a study design whereby each child with hemiplegia would have a participating "buddy". Topics included views on an acceptable wrist-worn device and smartphone application, participant age range, involvement of a buddy, and barriers to using the technology in a school setting. Ethical/welfare considerations included data security, and potential risks around providing smartphones to young children. Children wanted a comfortable, conventional-appearing wristband incorporating a watch face and a secure, well-fitting strap. They were prepared to wear a band on each wrist. They wanted support with explaining the study to schoolteachers. Most schools restricted smartphone use during the school day: the study design accommodated this. Children agreed with a game as reward but had different views on an acceptable game; direct access to feedback data was preferred by some. Parents commented on the lack of access to upper limb therapy for children with UCP; therapists concurred. The proposed participant age range was widened based on feedback. Typically developing children were prepared to be buddies to help a friend with CP. Stakeholders were reassured by data security explanations and plans to provide internet safety information to participants. The participatory design process informed plans for the proof-of-concept stage of the study, hopefully leading to an approach that will be fun, easy to integrate into everyday life, and have the capacity to increase use of the affected arm and hand.