Stephania Padovani

Understanding the collaborative-participatory design

In this study, the role of collaboration in design is discussed, placing emphasis on how to include end-users in the development process. The study is based on a literature review focusing on aspects of collaboration in design, usability and human factors. Thereby, it introduces, compares and contrasts the characteristics of both collaborative and user-centered design perspectives, leading to the collaborative-participatory design approach. Finally, the advantages, disadvantages and precautions of implementing collaborative and participatory models are pointed out.

Typology of the experiences

The human being does not separate emotion from cognition, even when using or buying a product. This is one of the reasons why product and interface designers started to consider the emotions and pleasures that a product can bring to the user as part of their creating process. So, words as feelings, emotions, experience, pleasure and beauty have become more relevant in usability and marketing research. Research in this field, however, is scarce and the efforts concentrate in the area of product design, with only a few studies in the field of graphic and digital design. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to fulfill this gap by identifying the different categories of experiences that design can provide.

Patient Safety: Contributions from a Task Analysis Study on Medicine Usage by Brazilians

Medicine misuse in Brazil is one of the most relevant health issues affecting millions of people. This paper discusses the results of a study on usage of five different medicines by 60 adult Brazilians. Problems in task performance occurred with all medicines, especially those requiring measuring doses and object manipulation. Deficiencies in the design of the medicine inserts were also found. The outcomes enable to conclude that improvements in the design of instructions for patients and of medicine inserts, as well as of medicine bottles/containers are necessary to facilitate their use by Brazilians.

Avaliação de material didático digital centrada no usuário: uma investigação de instrumentos passíveis de utilização por professores

In this study, we discuss the importance of user-centered evaluation of digital learning materials. First of all, different evaluation approaches are introduced, as well as their definitions and classifications. Then, concepts of usability in digital learning materials are surveyed. Finally, a range of evaluation tools subject to use by teachers are described.

The Open University of the Unified Health System in Brazil (UNA-SUS/UFMA): Identification and Hierarchization of Problems in Distance Learning Courses

This article reports a study of heuristic evaluation and hierarchization of the problems found on four distance learning courses offered by the Open University of the Unified Health System in Brazil (UNA-SUS/UFMA). It is part of a broader research on information architecture, interaction design and information design on e-learning courses. The sample was assessed through 88 heuristics and recommendations, followed by the FIP (Frequency, Impact and Persistence) technique to establish the severity of the problems found. The results showed that the sample did not meet (a) the information design principles of consistency, proximity, and hierarchy; and (b) the interaction design criteria of adaptability, explicit control and consistency. The sample also presented weaknesses in the information architecture systems of navigation, labeling and search. The heuristic evaluation followed by the hierarchization of problems have proved to be advantageous at the beginning of the evaluative research project. Recommendations were proposed to improve the distance learning courses.

Personalisation on children's e-book: an analysis of book apps

Childrens books apps stand out from other e-book formats because they bring together multi-media and multimodal features designed especially for mobile interaction devices (MIDs), tablets and smartphones. In the context of MID, personalization is a specially targeted approach, since it prioritizes the user experience in interfaces and systems. However, there is a theoretical gap regarding the personalization of childrens e-books. This paper aims to analyze whether and how customization has been applied in childrens e-books, focusing on the app format, and find out what are the positive and negative aspects of that. Starting from a bibliographical survey, we discuss customization in the scope of Education and HCI areas and an analysis framework is built upon it in order to investigate six childrens books award-winning applications. Through empirical analysis and bibliographic study, both in positive and negative aspects to the personalization of digital childrens books are presented.

Desenvolvimento e aplicação de modelo descritivo-normativo para análise de websites

In this study, we propose a descriptive and normative framework for website analysis. To begin with, we explain competitor analysis, outlining the aims and benefits of this stage within the design process. After that, we describe a range of descriptive and normative frameworks aimed at analyzing information systems and graphic representations found in Ergonomics and Information Design literature. Finally, we propose a new descriptive and normative framework to be used during the competitor analysis phase in website design, illustrating its application with an informative website.