Åke Walldius

Nordic eHealth Indicators: Organisation of research, first results and plan for the future.

eHealth indicator and benchmarking activities are rapidly increasing nationally and internationally. The work is rarely based on a transparent methodology for indicator definition. This article describes first results of testing an indicator methodology for defining eHealth indicators, which was reported at the Medical Informatics Europe conference in 2012. The core elements of the methodology are illustrated, demonstrating validation of each of them in the context of Nordic eHealth Indicator work. Validation proved the importance of conducting each of the steps of the methodology, with several scientific as well as practical outcomes. The article is based on a report to be published by the Nordic Council of Ministers [4].

User certification of workplace software: assessing both artefact and usage

This article summarises activities and results from the quality assessment project ‘Quality Assurance of IT Support at Work’ (ITQ) which has been performed by Swedish researchers in close cooperation with trade unions 1999–2005. The ITQ project is part of a network, UsersAward, which works for the goal to develop and implement a strategy for good software products on the work floor. A main result of the ITQ project is the first version of a software certification programme, User Certified 2002, which is described in some detail. The underlying theoretical arguments for its design and the performed pilot projects which have informed its implementation are also presented. The outcome of performed certifications is discussed in terms of stakeholder response; in terms of whether to certify artefact, processes, or both; and in terms of the relationship between software certification, standardisation, and public procurement agreements. One conclusion from the project is that a viable software certification programme has to cover the softwares built-in features, its deployment process, and its actual situated usage. A second conclusion is that the buying organisation has to implement integrative processes in which its organisational development and its implementation of IT systems are coordinated. Conclusions are also drawn with respect to the set of organisational patterns underlying the UsersAward initiative – certifications, user panels, user surveys, user conferences and a yearly IT Prize contest. Finally, implications and plans for the future, especially international research and union cooperation activities, and further development of the certification process are described.

Human–Computer Interaction and International Public Policymaking: A Framework for Understanding and Taking Future Actions

This monograph lays out a discussion framework for understanding the role of human–computer interaction HCI in public policymaking. We take an international view, discussing potential areas for research and application, and their potential for impact. Little has been written about the intersection of HCI and public policy; existing reports typically focus on one specific policy issue or incident. To date, there has been no overarching view of the areas of existing impact and potential impact. We have begun that analysis and argue here that such a global view is needed. Our aims are to provide a solid foundation for discussion, cooperation and collaborative interaction, and to outline future programs of activity. The five sections of this report provide relevant background along with a preliminary version of what we expect to be an evolving framework. Sections 1 and 2 provides an introduction to HCI and public policy. Section 3 discusses how HCI already informs public policy, with representative examples. Section 4 discusses how public policy influences HCI and provides representative public policy areas relevant to HCI, where HCI could have even more impact in the future: i laws, regulations, and guidelines for HCI research, ii HCI research assessments, iii research funding, iv laws for interface design — accessibility and language, v data privacy laws and regulations, vi intellectual property, and vii laws and regulations in specific sectors. There is a striking difference between where the HCI community has had impact Section 3 and the many areas of potential involvement Section 4. Section 5 a framework for action by the HCI community in public policy internationally. This monograph summarizes the observations and recommendations from a daylong workshop at the CHI 2013 conference in Paris, France. The workshop invited the communitys perspectives regarding the intersection of governmental policies, international and domestic standards, recent HCI research discoveries, and emergent considerations and challenges. It also incorporates contributions made after the workshop by workshop participants and by individuals who were unable to participate in the workshop but whose work and interests were highly related and relevant.This monograph lays out a discussion framework for understanding the role of human–computer interaction HCI in public policymaking. We take an international view, discussing potential areas for res...

Medicine meets engineering in cooperative design of collaborative decision-supportive system

Researchers in Human-Computer Interaction have worked together with physicians to specify and create prototypes of a system to be used primarily during multi-disciplinary team meetings. Physicians will use the system to aggregate and present relevant patient information during discussions on diagnosis and treatment, and also to coordinate the cases during the patient care pathway. In this paper we present the cooperative design process and activities conducted within the project. The results are two-fold; we report on the progress of creating the decision-supportive system, and describe how the physicians experience the design process. The design activities have made the physicians reflect on: the lack or loss of patient information, how patient information can be improved, break-downs in their work process, how they learn from each other, and the design methodology itself.

A first analysis of the UsersAward programme from a value sensitive design perspective

The goal of the UsersAward programme is to develop and maintain a strategy for better workplace software through user-driven quality assessment. One of its key activities is the user-driven certification of workplace software using the USER CERTIFIED 2002 instrument. In this paper we present a preliminary analysis of the values that inform the criteria and procedure making up the USER CERTIFIED 2002 instrument, using the Value Sensitive Design methodology. We then propose a set of empirical investigations with the different UsersAward stakeholders, which should yield a deeper understanding of some of the critical issues concerning user-driven software assessment programmes.

Using Online Reviews as Narratives to Evoke Designer’s Empathy

Gathering health-related data is quite easy, but visualizing them in a meaningful way remains challenging, especially when the application domain is very complex. Research suggests that empathy can facilitate the design process and that narratives can help to create an empathic encounter between designers and the prospective users. We conducted an exploratory quasi-experiment in order to explore whether narratives in form of online reviews are able to evoke designer’s empathy when developing an online platform for a direct-to-consumer genetic testing service. The results suggest that the narratives can help designers to engage with and take the perspective of the prospective user, who is then represented in more detail. Lacking narratives from real people leaves the designers to their own imagination, which can lead to the use of rather abstract stereotypes that do not enable an understanding of the user, but affect the subsequent design decisions.

Mapping Health Outcome and Costs when Coordinating Local Information System Redesign.

As costs for healthcare are rising in society, information systems are often seen as enablers of new cost-saving healthcare processes. But an on-going deployment of a wide range of new kinds of systems requires close attention to interoperability between new and legacy systems. Another challenge is to assure that the healthcare professions are given realistic opportunities to play an active part in designing the new ways of working that the new, integrated systems are designed to support. We argue that a feasible way to approach such a user participation in design of work processes and systems is to extend well known user-survey and strategy-mapping methods with the new value-based healthcare approach which invites health professionals to participate in strategic assessments of health outcome and costs along the care chain in which they work. We also argue that such a combination of practical research methods resonates well with Techno-Anthropologys foregrounding of ethical considerations to inform the interdisciplinary cross-fertilization of interactional competencies in health informatics research.

Shared 3-D workplace exhibitions as sites for community meetings

Information exchange and communication in large, distributed organizations is a research project aimed at designing and testing shared, 3-D exhibition environments for geographically dispersed organizations. The research is associated with a long-term project sponsored by the National Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) in which a network for the exchange of organizational skills is created. The research project has tested the usefulness of 3-D environments as an extension of other communication services used in the LO-network, such as regional conferences, printed newsletters, email, electronic discussion forums, and websites. Two design workshops have been arranged in which 17 network members have learned how to build and navigate in the 3-D environment. The workshops resulted in the construction of an exhibition area where different design ideas were tested. Feedback from members was documented in videotaped interviews and an indication of the positive response is given through the groups ongoing additions to the exhibition site.

Strategy mapping: a method for making value tensions explicit in design and deployment of IT systems

A core activity promoted by the value sensitive design approach is the iterative and integrative performance of conceptual, empirical and technical investigations. In this essay, I will contribute and reflect on a method for conceptual mapping through which such tripartite investigations can be supported in ways that are open to stakeholder participation.