Joy Goodman-Deane

Key influences on the user-centred design process

To develop inclusive design materials that are well suited to design practice and thus more likely to be adopted, a better understanding of this practice is needed. A triangulated study was thus conducted, including observations of case studies, interviews with designers and a literature review. The study examined many aspects of design practice, focusing on the consideration of users and influences on method uptake. Four overarching themes were identified: clients’ influence, informality, variation, and time and cost constraints. Implications include the need to educate clients in the value of inclusive design; the need for informal, cheap, yet insightful inclusive design methods; and the value of providing a range of flexible materials for different design situations.

HCI and the older population

HCI issues for older people are extremely important in light of the rapidly ageing population in developed countries. In addition, technology offers great potential for this age group but it will only be useful if it can be used effectively by its target users. In this workshop, we will therefore examine how HCI can address the needs and situations of this increasing older population. We aim to build up and support the research community in this area by providing a forum for the presentation of current work and a platform for discussing key challenges in this area. This workshop continues a successful series held at HCI in recent years and this year focuses on methodology, exploring how older people can be considered and included most effectively in design.

Equipping designers by simulating the effects of visual and hearing impairments

This paper describes a software tool that demonstrates the effects of common vision and hearing impairments on image and sound files. This helps designers to understand and empathize with the difficulties that less able users might experience when using their products and interfaces. A range of impairments and severity levels are simulated and guidance is provided on how to address some of the issues raised. The latest version of this tool will be available for demonstration at Assets.

A comparison of methods currently used in inclusive design

Inclusive design has unique challenges because it aims to improve usability for a wide range of users. This typically includes people with lower levels of ability, as well as mainstream users. This paper examines the effectiveness of two methods that are used in inclusive design: user trials and exclusion calculations (an inclusive design inspection method). A study examined three autoinjectors using both methods (n=30 for the user trials). The usability issues identified by each method are compared and the effectiveness of the methods is discussed. The study found that each method identified different kinds of issues, all of which are important for inclusive design. We therefore conclude that a combination of methods should be used in inclusive design rather than relying on a single method. Recommendations are also given for how the individual methods can be used more effectively in this context.

User Involvement and User Data: A Framework to Help Designers to Select Appropriate Methods

Many methods have been developed and adapted to help designers to understand, empathise with, and quantify users’ situations, through both direct user involvement and more indirect use of user data. These methods vary widely, with different goals and suited for use in different situations. However, designers often find it difficult to select the most appropriate for their needs, often leading to inappropriate method use. We therefore propose a framework to help designers to make informed decisions about methods. The framework identifies the key information needs of designers in making these decisions, based on observations, interviews, card-sorting studies and a literature review. We further discuss how the framework may be populated, giving an example and discussing key issues.

Design and delivery of a national pilot survey of capabilities

Understanding the numbers of people with different levels of ability in the population is important for informing design decisions for mainstream products, but a survey dataset for this purpose does not exist. This paper describes a key step towards obtaining such data. It describes a pilot survey of 362 people across England and Wales in preparation for a full national survey. Information was gathered on vision, hearing, hand and arm function, mobility, cognitive function, product use, psychological characteristics, anthropometrics and demographics. An interesting finding is that of those participants who reported any limitations in daily activities due to capability loss, 44% reported limitations due to loss of more than one capability. This finding highlights the importance of measuring multiple capabilities in a single survey. Top-level lessons learnt include: simplifying vision tests; reducing exclusion criteria for some of the tests; adopting a stratified sampling approach; and allocating more training for interviewers.

A Population Perspective on Mobile Phone Related Tasks

For design to be truly inclusive, it needs to take into account the range of users’ capabilities. To do this appropriately, good data on those capabilities is needed. This paper reports on results from a postcode sampled survey of 362 people. The survey examined a wide range of user capabilities and characteristics, but the paper focuses on just a few of the survey measures. These measures examine some of the component activities involved in using mobile telephones: selection of a menu item via two different interaction patterns, use of differing sized pushbutton controls and insertion of two different types of electrical connector. These results can help to inform more inclusive design of mobile phones by examining how people’s capability to perform these activities varies across different activities and by age and gender.

Differences in vision performance in different scenarios and implications for design.

To design accessibly, designers need good, relevant population data on visual abilities. However, currently available data often focuses on clinical vision measures that are not entirely relevant to everyday product use. This paper presents data from a pilot survey of 362 participants in the UK, covering a range of vision measures of particular relevance to product design. The results from the different measures are compared, and recommendations are given for relative text sizes to use in different situations. The results indicate that text needs to be 17-18% larger for comfortable rather than perceived threshold viewing, and a further 20% larger when users are expected to wear their everyday vision setup rather than specific reading aids.

Re-imagining commonly used mobile interfaces for older adults

Many countries have an increasingly aging population. In recent years, mobile technologies have had a massive impact on social and working lives. As the size of the older user population rises, many people will want to continue professional, social and lifestyle usage of mobiles into 70s and beyond. Mobile technologies can lead to increased community involvement and personal independence. While mobile technologies can provide many opportunities, the aging process can interfere with their use. This workshop brings together researchers who are re-imagining common mobile interfaces so that they are more suited to use by older adults.

Designer requirements for visual capability loss simulator tools: Differences between design disciplines

There is a low uptake of inclusive design tools in industry, partly due to a poor fit between design tools and the thought and work processes of designers. Simulating visual capability losses is a technique with great potential in helping designers improve inclusivity and accessibility. However, we need to understand the needs of designers from different disciplines to improve the fit of these tools and their uptake in industry.