Allison Druin

Technology probes: inspiring design for and with families

We describe a new method for use in the process of co-designing technologies with users called technology probes. Technology probes are simple, flexible, adaptable technologies with three interdisciplinary goals: the social science goal of understanding the needs and desires of users in a real-world setting, the engineering goal of field-testing the technology, and the design goal of inspiring users and researchers to think about new technologies. We present the results of designing and deploying two technology probes, the messageProbe and the videoProbe, with diverse families in France, Sweden, and the U.S. We conclude with our plans for creating new technologies for and with families based on our experiences.

Cooperative inquiry: developing new technologies for children with children

In todays homes and schools, children are emerging as frequentand experienced users of technology [3, 14]. As this trendcontinues, it becomes increasingly important to ask if we arefulfilling the technology needs of our children. To answer thisquestion, I have developed a research approach that enables youngchildren to have a voice throughout the technology developmentprocess. In this paper, the techniques of cooperativeinquiry will be described along with a theoretical frameworkthat situates this work in the HCI literature. Two examples oftechnology resulting from this approach will be presented, alongwith a brief discussion on the design-centered learning ofteam researchers using cooperative inquiry.

Single display groupware: a model for co-present collaboration

We introduce a model for supporting collaborative work betweenpeople that are physically close to each other. We call this modelSingle Display Groupware (SDG). In this paper, we describe themodel, comparing it to more traditional remote collaboration, Wedescribe the requirements that SDG places on computer technology,and our understanding of the benefits and costs of SDG systems.Finally, we describe a prototype SDG system that we built and theresults of a usability test we ran with 60 elementary schoolchildren.

Designing storytelling technologies to encouraging collaboration between young children

We describe the iterative design of two collaborative storytelling technologies for young children, KidPad and the Klump. We focus on the idea of designing interfaces to subtly encourage collaboration so that children are invited to discover the added benefits of working together. This idea has been motivated by our experiences of using early versions of our technologies in schools in Sweden and the UK. We compare the approach of encouraging collaboration with other approaches to synchronizing shared interfaces. We describe how we have revised the technologies to encourage collaboration and to reflect design suggestions made by the children themselves.

KidPad: a design collaboration between children, technologists, and educators

We established an interdisciplinmy, intergenemtional collaboration in the fidl of 1995, between the University of New Mexico’s Computer Science Departmen4 the College of Fducatiou and local Albuquerque elementary school children. The goal of this reaeamh was to develop an expressive digital medium with an intuitive zooming - to support a learning environment tbr children. In the _ of this eollaboratio~ design methodologies that support a child’s role in the development of new technologies WE explored. What follows is a summary of our iterative design experience, collaboration, and the results of the resuch to date.

Designing StoryRooms: interactive storytelling spaces for children

Costly props, complicated authoring technologies, and limited access to space are among the many reasons why children can rarely enjoy the experience of authoring room-sized interactive stories. Typically in these kinds of environments, children are restricted to being story participants, rather than story authors. Therefore, we have begun the development of StoryRooms, room-sized immersive storytelling urrent technology implementation and example StoryRooms.

Mixing ideas: a new technique for working with young children as design partners

This paper sets forth a new technique for working with young children as design partners. Mixing ideas is presented as an additional Cooperative Inquiry design technique used to foster effective collaboration with young children (ages 4-6). The method emerged from our work with children on the Classroom of the Future project at the University of Maryland. A case study of this work is presented along with the implications of this method for future research.

What Children Can Teach Us: Developing Digital Libraries for Children with Children

At the University of Maryland, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from information studies, computer science, education, art, and psychology worked with seven children (ages seven to eleven) to design a new digital library for children. This partnership led to new approaches for collection development, cataloging (metadata standards), and new technologies for information access and use. The team validated the importance of working with children by analyzing the results of Weblogs, surveys, and lab user studies. This article presents a discussion of the interdisciplinary research landscape that contributes to an understanding of digital libraries for children, examines a case study on the development of the International Children’s Digital Library, and discusses the implications from this research as they relate to new technology design methods with children and new directions for future digital libraries.

Designing PETS: a personal electronic teller of stories

We have begun the development of a new robotic pet that cansupport children in the storytelling process. Children can buildtheir own pet by snapping together the modular animal parts of thePETS robot. After their pet is built, children can tellstories using the My Pets software. These stories canthen be acted out by their robotic pet. This video paper describesthe motivation for this research and the design process of ourintergenerational design team in building the first PETSprototypes. We will discuss our progress to date and our focus forthe future.

Shared family calendars: Promoting symmetry and accessibility

We describe the design and use of a system facilitating the sharing of calendar information between remotely located, multi-generational family members. Most previous work in this area involves software enabling younger family members to monitor their parents. We have found, however, that older adults are equally if not more interested in the activities of younger family members. The major obstacle preventing them from participating in information sharing is the technology itself. Therefore, we developed a multi-layered interface approach that offers simple interaction to older users. In our system, users can choose to enter information into a computerized calendar or write it by hand on digital paper calendars. All of the information is automatically shared among everyone in the distributed family. By making the interface more accessible to older users, we promote symmetrical sharing of information among both older and younger family members. We present our participatory design process, describe the user interface, and report on an exploratory field study in three households of an extended family.