Showing papers by "Olof Torgersson published in 2014"

Personal or social?: designing mobile interactions for co-located interaction

Abstract: Personal mobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets, fitness wristbands, and smart watches are becoming ubiquitous and widely involved in our daily activities. However, these devices are designed and considered by the users as personal -- not as shared or collaborative. As a response to this, the workshop aims to explore the design of new application ideas for mobile devices that explicitly encourage users to engage in face-to-face interaction. The research question is firstly how to design for face-to-face interactions. Secondly, it is how we can utilize various possibilities e.g. combining mobile devices (e.g. phones + tablets); extending commercial mobile-devices with hardware peripherals; utilizing social networks, geo-location services or proximity-based connections; or utilizing software to turn the personal devices into tools of face-to-face interactions.

Towards a constructively aligned approach to teaching interaction design & children

Abstract: This paper proposes the principles of constructive alignment as foundation for course design within Interaction Design and Children (IDC). While the field has existed for over a decade, there is still no settled curriculum for teaching it. The paper demonstrates how intended learning outcomes in combination with related work and research on teaching IDC can be used to develop a course in IDC, and exemplify this with a brief description of the development of a recently completed course. The contribution of this paper is to support anyone who intends to start teaching in this area, to stimulate discussion in the community, and contribute to an emerging curriculum for Interaction Design and Children.

Training designers for vulnerable generations: a quest for a more inclusive design

Abstract: This paper presents findings from a project focusing on the specific needs of vulnerable generations - children and elderly people - in design teaching and training activities. The thirty-months project embodied a series of activities for developing, implementing and evaluating teaching materials focused on design for vulnerable generations, and identified two critical elements for the promotion of more inclusive design. First, knowledge and skills were identified through a collaborative process with stakeholders. We also applied in-depth data collection methods, surveys, interviews and case studies with experts and operators in relevant industry and research centres, in order to identify training needs. From this, nine teaching modules were developed and tested in pilot studies. These will be made freely available online. Second, we identified the need to disseminate, focus and increase awareness among teachers, design students and professionals for vulnerable generations. This was achieved through the establishment of an international design award. Three different categories of award with relevant sets of criteria were developed through an iterative process and have been launched and evaluated. The contribution of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to encourage educators, through the communication and dissemination of the results of the project, to extend their user groups to include design for vulnerable generations, and secondly to enhance designers’ interest and knowledge in working with design for vulnerable generations.

Including Children with Disabilities in the Design Process

Abstract: This workshop aims to bring together researchers and designers to exchange experiences with (participatory) design techniques for children with disabilities that may hinder communication, such as hearing aids, autism or Down’s syndrome. More specifically, the main aim is to identify commonalities and differences in current practices and discuss how to apply and adapt participatory design techniques for the different target groups. This workshop will he held jointly with the workshop on “Values and Stances in Interaction Design with Children with Disabilities".

Curriculum or Not – Show Us How You Teach Interaction Design and Children!

Abstract: The workshop intends to bring together educators, researchers, designers, and practitioners to explore issues regarding interaction design and children, to discuss training needs from different perspectives, and to share best practice methods to teach designers how to design technologies for children. There is a growing awareness of the needs of children, but less focus on developing teaching modules for design methods and practices aiming at covering their needs. To improve the design practice in the area of design for children, it is necessary to not only study and improve methodology, but also how to transfer the gained knowledge to new generations of designers to ensure its use in design. The overall aim of the workshop is to find ways to initiate discussions on an emerging interaction design curriculum with a specific focus on children.

Design for children and older people - Educating the Next Generation of Designers

Abstract: This special issue of the IxD&A journal focuses on design for children and older people, both in teaching and in design practice. The aim is to expand the results from the DEVICE project (DEVICE - DEsign for Vulnerable generatIons – Children and Elderly) and from the workshops “Show me yours, and I’ll show you mine – Teaching design for children and the elderly” held at the The 2nd International Conference for Design Education Researchers in Oslo 2013 and “Curriculum or not – Show us how you teach Interaction Design & Children!” held at the IDC - Interaction Design & Children 2014 conference in Aarhus. This goal is achieved by discussing issues related to the involvement of children and older people in Interaction Design, aiming also at a better understanding of the underlying concerns and potentials in this realm. This special issue thus represents an attempt to collect and share the contributions of educators, researchers, designers and practitioners regarding teaching designers Interaction Design for children and older people. In addition, it tries to foster the sharing of best practices and methods, and to encourage a discussion in the relevant academic and professional communities. Despite the fact that a growing interest is targeting the needs of children and older people in design processes, only little research and debate have been devoted to developing teaching modules for design methods and practices aiming at covering these particular tasks. Our main concern is thus focused onto the risk that a gap between the accumulation of knowledge in the field and the transfer of this knowledge to new generations of designers could emerge and grow at a greater pace compared to the efforts put in place to fill it in.

Digital Fabrication by IDAC – Aims, Steps and Transferable Principles

Abstract: This paper aims to present the digital fabrication approach driven by Gothenburg Working group for Interaction Design and Children – IDAC in Sweden. In addition to supporting local makerspace environments, educating teachers, school leaders and politicians, and conducting hacker clubs for children, we suggest including children in special education in a European agenda for digital fabrication at school, and make the maker movement matter for all children. In this paper, we identify three transferable principles for this.

On Learning Outcomes for Participatory Design in Digital Fabrication

Abstract: This paper discusses what the learning outcomes for students using elements of Participatory Design in Digital Fabrication in a FabLab context could be. A number of possible learning outcomes are presented together with some general discussion about how the combination of Participatory Design and Digital Fabrication could be achieved from different perspectives.