Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

We have developed a meta-model for Business applications. To generate applications using this meta-model we created a omponent ased Business pplication evelopment and eployment hell; CBEADS.The meta-model we created was based on three abstraction levels: Shell, Applications and Functions. The Shell provides the functionality common to any Web-based Business Application, and a set of configurable components and tools to create functions that are specific to an application. By using CBEADS we can rapidly develop Web-based Business Applications by creating instances of the meta-model based on the Meta Design Paradigm. The key aspect that underpinned this research work was the viewpoint that “software is a medium to capture knowledge rather than a product”. The developer’s knowledge is embedded into the shell and the tools. The End-user’s knowledge is used to populate instances of the meta-model from which applications are generated within CBEADS.

Although information about users is vitally important in inclusive design, its use is often limited. The literature suggests that this is, at least in part, due to the ways in which the information is provided, which do not always match designers’ needs. We therefore conducted a study to discover the information formats that designers do and do not like and use. In this paper, we draw implications for the presentation of design information, suggesting that it should be quick and easy to find and use, visual and stimulating, flexible and open-ended, and relate clearly and concretely to design issues. We also propose two categorisations of information formats and types and discuss the suitability of some specific examples of types of user information.

Numerous methods have been developed to help designers to understand and consider the needs and desires of end-users, but many have had limited uptake in design practice. In order to understand why this is and to enable the development of more effective methods and tools, it is important to uncover how designers themselves think about and react to these methods. We are therefore currently conducting a card-sorting study with designers. We aim to uncover their perceptions of underlying similarities and relationships between design methods, and relate them to the frequency and enjoyment of use. This paper presents results from an initial sample of six designers. A cluster analysis identified a very strong clustering in these results, indicating that common underlying views about methods do exist. Six key clusters are identified, including two focused on user involvement and one on understanding users without direct user contact. The effect of different method characteristics on the frequency and enjoyment of method use are also considered. Initial results indicate that certain clusters of methods are used more often, as are methods that are informal and cheap.

The use of mobile technologies for self services, and the inclusion of elderly and cognitively disabled users in the self-service society can be improved by the application of appropriate ac cessi bility guide lines for mobile de vices. We show how to operationalize the principles of uni versal design, and how to realize these principles on mobile de vices. Ten categories of ac cessi bility guide lines are presented, and accessible user interfaces for an electronic service on a mo bile phone are demonstrated.

The product development in service science will become important for manufacturing industry. Therefore, the introduction of the "service science" concept is necessary in product development. This paper proposes a design improvement method based on HCD (Human Centered Design) concept, which can be introduced to middle/small enterprises, with the structured product concept. A case study of the operation panel design of home security system is discussed in this paper. This method is effective not only in making new products but also in improving developed products. Making a structured product concept is also effective to get consensus among the developers.

Scenario-Based Design has been implemented widely to the concept and product development processes. Especially in the development of Information and Communication Technologies the Scenario-Based Design approach has been utilized widely though with different variations and modifications. In this paper I focus on experiences how Scenario-Based Design approach has enhanced better user experience of design and increased user involvement and user-driven innovation in product development processes.

With the fast economic development in emerging markets, Hewlett-Packard (HP) has to focus on satisfying the needs of customer in these markets. However, due to cross-cultural differences, HP can not automatically assume that products designed in the USA can satisfy customers in those markets. For this reason, HP wants to set up UCD teams to help design products for those markets. Setting up a UCD team in China is the first step of this plan. In this article, through a case study, we want to share what we have gained in past work, what lessons we have learned in practice, and what our next steps will be.

This paper is intended to observe what factors would be most effective for motivating the use of a new function. We named the factors that motivate the use of such function "Kickers". We took up GUI of a music player, and clarified the evaluation structure, in which users might want to start using, by using the Evaluation Grid. We also had the developers make evaluation, and compared the results with those of users. As a result, it was made clear that the early step of using the function is motivated by the operation of an emotional factor of becoming <interested> in the function and of a factor concerning easiness to <understand> it. This result was verified by conducting a quantitative questionnaire survey.

After observing children playing games, two design-engineering students designed a new concept for an interactive playground, the °. Its basic idea is to shift the computer screen onto the floor. In order to design optimal interfaces (hardware) and game scenarios (software) for everyone to enjoy, the ° decided to adopt an inclusive design process. This paper starts with a discussion of popularism in design, which critiques the conventional welfare designers’ approach to treat ’users’ as study subjects. From the design of the design workshops to the final design solution, this paper presents how a group of young design students worked with a design researcher to formulate their first user-involvement design experience in such a way that all participants in the process could engage in the inclusive experience of exchanging knowledge between designers and users. Finally, the paper documents the user-involvement process from the perspectives of different collaborators, including design students, design researcher, high school students and their school education consultant. Hence, this paper aims to advocate the relevance of designing with people rather for them.

The design of ICT products is at present optimized for mass manufacturing in a global scale. Yet local communities and specific users have needs that are in danger of being excluded from the benefits of new technology. We present our experience of co-designing targeted products with local stakeholders embedded in their concrete social and material context and everyday practices. Our claim is such embedded design could be achieved through combining modular global technology with local handcrafts, which contain shared cultural meanings and guaranteed affordance.