Participatory Design with Older People

www.johnvines.eu John Vines 1

John Vines

Digital Interaction Group Culture Lab, Newcastle University

di.ncl.ac.uk

email: [email protected]

Participatory Design with Older People


11.20 A brief history of participatory design 11.40 The challenges of ageing populations 12.00 Mini activity? 12.15 BREAK 12.25 Case study 12.45 Final activity (group work)! 13.05 Final activity (discussion)!

outline of talk


part one

a brief history of participatory design


a simple definition

‘Participatory Design (PD) represents [an] approach towards computer systems design in which the people destined to use the system play a critical role in designing it.’

- Schuler & Namioka, 1993, p.xi

… but it is often a lot more complicated than this!


one time, in Scandinavia…

Participatory Design

Co-Operative Design a concern with the politics of system design

no technology is ‘neutral’

dislocation and deskilling of workers

exertion of the management's control over their workforce

- Kensing & Blomberg, 1998



questioning and alternatives

‘we must use our curiosity and creativity to question solutions […] we must use the insight to help ordinary users raise similar questions to the specific technologies proposed to them. This is an agenda that has many levels – from questioning well-established human-computer interaction paradigms, via questioning IT strategies on a societal level, to helping users in particular organisations participate in technological development. The latter is what we often call participatory design, but I would claim that it does not come without the former.’

- Bødker, 2003, p.88


traditions and transcendence

a fundamental tension in all ‘user-focused’ systems design is balancing an understanding and incorporation of existing traditions with providing opportunities for individuals to transcend and break existing boundaries

- Ehn, 1989


a little later, in the United States

‘… to empower users to act as full participants in the design of systems that will have impact on their jobs and their work-lives. … to improve knowledge acquisition for design, and the quality of the resulting system, by involving the people with job expertise (the people who do the job) in the design process. … to improve the flow of the software engineering process by bringing representatives from major components of that process into the design phase a co-owners of the design.’

- Muller, 1991, p.225


the ‘third space’ of participatory design

- Muller, 2003


the ‘workshop’

future workshops - Kensing and Madsen, 1991

‘… workshops are usually held to help diverse parties (“stakeholders”) communicate and commit to shared goals, strategies, and outcomes (e.g., analyses, designs, and evaluations, as well as workplace-change objectives). Workshops are often held at sites that are in a sense neutral – they are not part of the software professionals’ workplace, and they are not part of the workers’ workplace.’

- Muller, 2003, p.1060


resources to support participation


‘third wave’ participation


warning: terminological overload!

co-operative design Participatory design (with a big P)

participatory design (with a little p)

co-design (collaborative design)

co-creation

The original term for Participatory Design use in Scandinavia in the 1970s-late 1980s

A view of end-user involvement in design to destabilise power structures and empower workers/users A view of end-user involvement in design to inform more approximately designed systems and provide grounded insight

A balanced and integrative approach to broad stakeholder and user involvement in design As per co-design, but with core principle that all people (and not just designers) are creative and create their own systems


quick thinking time!

Get together in pairs (or threes) and… 1.  … define one potential ‘user’ group of technology that you

believe may benefit from being involved in a participatory design process(don’t choose older people! – but do choose something related to your Master’s project if appropriate).

2.  … come up with a research question or topic you think might be interesting to explore in some design workshops with this group.


part two

the challenges of ageing populations


ageing populations

Ageing demographics - ‘Very’ old fastest growing age group worldwide

By 2050, over 65s will outnumber all children under the age of 14 worldwide

1/7th of all UK government public spending is on pensions


the challenge for HCI Accessibility is now law: Equality Act 2012

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents

The retirement age has risen and almost inevitably will again in the near future meaning the workforce will include older users

The spending power of the over sixty-five population is enormous

Older users represent the biggest (and maybe the last) untapped source of new internet users (only approx. 20% of over-70s use the internet at

the moment – but this is growing massively)

Some of the services offered on the web are almost perfect for helping with independence in later life (i.e., internet shopping, online banking,

continued family communications)


the challenge for HCI

Most HCI research on the topic of ageing focuses on age-related functional decline, OR on negative perceptions of ageing:

-  Memory -  Attention -  Visual acuity -  Dexterity -  Hearing

See: http://www.nngroup.com/reports/accessibility/beyond_ALT_text.pdf See: Vines et al. (in press – but I can send you an unpublished copy)

-  Social Isolation -  Safety -  Risks -  Disease and

Health Conditions

-  Fun -  Enjoyment -  Pleasure -  Sharing Skills -  ?


the challenge for HCI


an even bigger challenge for HCI

Dementia is a global decline in cognitive function – this means that no aspect of your mental faculties is left unimpaired

In the UK in 2010, 800,000 people live with dementia. Predicted

to rise to 1m by 2021, and 1.7m by 2050.

If there is approx. 20 of us in this room, 6-9 of us will likely die with the condition (unless a cure is found)



Massive strain on healthcare and society

as a whole…

… but what about supporting positive

experiences of dementia?

Wallace et al. 2013



Massive strain on healthcare and society

as a whole…

… but what about supporting positive

experiences of dementia?

Lindsay et al. 2012


question time!

You have been tasked with both arranging and facilitating some participatory design workshops with a groups of 80 year olds, some of whom (but not all) have early-onset dementia …

… in pairs or small groups, discuss what you think some of the potential issues and problems you may come across in

both arranging and running these workshops.

5-10 minutes!


practical issues

finding participants

method of recruitment

turning up for sessions

abstractness & focus on detail

diversity and heterogeneity

deviating discussion

used to ‘get what you’re given’

sensory concerns

‘all of the above’, and…

reviewing and recapping

consistent point of contact

harnessing existing groups

difficulty articulating view

dominated by carers

Lindsay et al. 2012b; Vines et al. 2012a; 2012b Lindsay et al. 2012a

Older people (very generally!) People living with dementia (again, very generally!)


Break time!

10 minutes!


part three

case study of participatory design with older people


case study new approaches to banking for the older old


methods used

financial biographies

group discussions

invisible design films

questionable concept cards

provotypes


biographies

semi-structured interviews and visits to peoples homes

ask participants to tell us their life

story with occasional focused questions of experiences of the

research topic

as interview develops, ask to be shown relevant ‘artifacts’ and ‘materials’ around the home


financial biographies “I have a spot here where I save up. I’ll

always have so much for the housekeeping. … I do have a certain

amount of cash which I like by me … I go to the bank and I get so much money out

of the bank. I make sure that I have so much money in.” – Jean, 88

“I write out me carers, me gas, me light, me phone and hair, feet - chiropodist, water, television, St Leonard’s Hospice which I support, church – how much I donate each week and then I give a bit

extra at Christmas, that all goes down.” – Thora, 89

“If I want anything out of the wall, Nigel will get me 100 out if I need it.” – Barbara, 95


financial biographies

make participants feel at ease and allows them to tell us stories of their life

provides a good understanding of existing traditions, why people do

them based on their life story, and the barriers new systems make

the ‘site’ is peoples homes, meaning

they can access supplementary materials to give more insight

not so useful for ‘transcendence’


invisible design short films, usually a dialogue

between two characters, about a new technology one of the

characters is using

used in group workshops to prompt discussion

the technology is in the scene but

never ‘seen’ (hence invisible)

created to promote discussion about the experiences and context of use of the technology, and not

physical qualities of the interface or system


invisible design


invisible design

“Well I visualise it as a blank note with no sum on.” - Margaret, 82

“Like a cheque in other words.” – Iris, 81

“I don’t trust the banks, I don’t trust the finance institutions, because it’s only one operator filling in one set of numbers, puts in the wrong number, the wrong initial

on a name, and you’re in hock” – Jean, 82

“the Queen’s head disappeared if handed to unauthorised payee. How do we know we are going to buy something e.g. a lady goes shopping for shoes and

may visit 10 shops before she finds what she wants. How does she pay if not one of the authorised payees?” – Rita, 84

“if they’d shown us some of the money that was supposed to be there, and how it

worked, it would be more helpful to me” – Edith, 87


invisible design

new design suggestions

suggestions of how existing (non-digital) technologies exist negating the

need for the new design

further understanding of existing traditions, practices and desires

through participants concerns about the invisible design

avoids focusing on tangible details – however, can be a significant barrier

to some people to participate


questionable concepts a collection of cards provided to

participants in a pack to take home with them after a workshop

each card has a pictorial illustration

of an idea – the idea relates to insights from the biographies or

invisible design discussions

the idea is ‘questionable’ – i.e., not entirely practical, feasible, and may in some respects go against the

values of participants

The card also includes a set of questions related to the ideas for

participants to answer


questionable concepts








questionable concepts “If this actually came to pass it would

be just a way for the banks and financial institutions to make more money for the “fatcats” and the

shareholders and to exploit the man in the street”- Rita, 83

““hide it in code among telephone

numbers in my diary.” - Agatha, 81

“I like the idea on the front of an iPad type wallet … But you could also, I feel, have a card that you could put into a computer or a screen and you would call up your accounts, and see them.”

- Dolores, 81


questionable concepts allows the telling of stories and

experiences people have had in their lives relevant to the design context –

again, understanding tradition

supports critique of ideas but also creativity in the form of alternative

suggestions – transcendence reflecting onto existing traditions

is tactile – something that is valued by

many older people – and can be completed at home, offering time for

reflection

uncomplex data – writing on the cards, scribbles of ideas, and discussions

prompted by each card


activity time!

Group yourselves into teams of 3-5. You have a pack of quote cards, and two sheets of A3 paper each. In the remaining time, work as a group to categorise the quotes into related topics or themes (spend about 10 minutes on this – no need for any rigor!). For the final 10 minutes, choose one collection of quotes to develop a ‘questionable concept’ on the other sheet. Tell us what the idea is, how it relates to the quotes, and write three questions you would like to get participants thinking about.


references

Bødker, S. 2003. A for Alternatives. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems . 15, 1, 87-89. Briggs, P., Mark Blythe, John Vines, Stephen Lindsay, Paul Dunphy, James Nicholson, David Green, Jim Kitson, Andrew Monk, and Patrick Olivier. 2012. Invisible design: exploring insights and ideas through ambiguous film scenarios. In Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '12). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 534-543. Ehn, P. 1989. Work oriented design of computer artefacts. Stockholm, Arbetslivscentrum. Ehn, P., and Kyng, M. 1992. Cardboard Computers: Mockingit-up or Hands-on the Future. In: Design at Work . Lawrence Erlbaum, 169-196. Gaver, W., Mark Blythe, Andy Boucher, Nadine Jarvis, John Bowers, and Peter Wright. 2010. The prayer companion: openness and specificity, materiality and spirituality. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '10). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2055-2064. Gaver, W., Andy Boucher, John Bowers, Mark Blythe, Nadine Jarvis, David Cameron, Tobie Kerridge, Alex Wilkie, Robert Phillips, and Peter Wright. 2011. The photostroller: supporting diverse care home residents in engaging with the world. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '11). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 1757-1766.


references Lindsay, S., Katie Brittain, Daniel Jackson, Cassim Ladha, Karim Ladha, and Patrick Olivier. 2012. Empathy, participatory design and people with dementia. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '12). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 521-530. Lindsay, S., Daniel Jackson, Guy Schofield, and Patrick Olivier. 2012. Engaging older people using participatory design. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '12). Kensing, F., and Madsen, K.H. 1991. Generating visions: Future workshops and metaphorical design. In J. Greenbaum & M. Kyng (eds.), Design at work: Cooperative design of computer systems. Hillsdale NJ US: Erlbaum Kensing, F., and Blomberg, J. 1998. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, 7 (3-4), 167-185. Muller, M. J. 1991. PICTIVE—an exploration in participatory design. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '91), Scott P. Robertson, Gary M. Olson, and Judith S. Olson (Eds.). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 225-231. Muller, M J. 2002. Participatory design: the third space in HCI. In The human-computer interaction handbook, Julie A. Jacko and Andrew Sears (Eds.). L. Erlbaum Associates Inc., Hillsdale, NJ, USA 1051-1068. Schuler, D., and Namioka, A. 1993. Participatory design: Principles and practices. Lawrence Erlbaum, New Jersey, USA.


references

Vines, J., Mark Blythe, Stephen Lindsay, Paul Dunphy, Andrew Monk, and Patrick Olivier. 2012. Questionable concepts: critique as resource for designing with eighty somethings. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '12). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 1169-1178. Vines, J., Mark Blythe, Paul Dunphy, Vasillis Vlachokyriakos, Isaac Teece, Andrew Monk, and Patrick Olivier. 2012. Cheque mates: participatory design of digital payments with eighty somethings. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '12). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 1189-1198. Vines, J., Mark Blythe, Paul Dunphy, and Andrew Monk. 2011. Eighty something: banking for the older old. In Proceedings of the 25th BCS Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (BCS-HCI '11). British Computer Society, Swinton, UK, UK, 64-73. Wallace, J., Wright, P., McCarthy, J., Green, D., Thomas, J., and Olivier, P. A design-led inquiry into Personhood in Dementia. 2013. In proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’13), ACM, New York, NY, USA.