participatory and value-sensitive design
DESCRIPTION
213: User Interface Design and Development. Participatory and Value-Sensitive Design. Lecture #6 - February 17th, 2009. Today’s Outline. Participatory Design (PD) In-class Futures Workshop Value Sensitive Design (VSD). Participatory Design. Participatory Design. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Participatory and Value-Sensitive Design
Lecture #6 - February 17th, 2009
213: User Interface Design and Development
Today’s Outline
1) Participatory Design (PD)
2) In-class Futures Workshop
3) Value Sensitive Design
(VSD)
Participatory Design
Participatory Design
Emerged from strong labor movement in Scandinavia in the early 70s
Shift from top-down, management-driven, rationalistic perspective to a bottom-up, democratic, humanistic perspective
New legislation and policies provided workers a role in how technology was introduced into organizations
Legislation was not enough to shift the balance away from the managerial perspective - this required the innovation of new design methods
PD = CD?
Isn’t this the same as Contextual Design?They share certain ideas and approaches, but the underlying emphasis is different
Contextual design emphasizes understanding the context of work
Participatory design emphasizes actively articulating problems and co-creating solutions in cooperation with users
Other names for PD include Cooperative Design and Collective Resource Approach
Landmark PD ProjectsNJMF - 1970
– Norwegian Metal Workers Union– Kristen Nygaard
DEMOS - 1975– Swedish Trade Union Confederation– Ehn and Sandberg
DUE - 1977– Kyng and Matthiasen
UTOPIA - 1981– Nordic Graphic Workers Union (NGU) – Ehn, Kyng, Sundblad, Bødker
Florence - 1983– Nurses– Nygaard, Bjerknes, Bratteteig, Kaasbøll, Sannes, Sinding-Larsen
Scandinavian Culture
Rich social democracies, relatively smallUse technology to a large extent, very fast diffusion
Small and medium sized organizationsEquity and equal rights very importantDemocratic work life (employee representation in company boards, etc.)
High percentage of trade union membershipProtestant ethics
Source: Tone Bratteteig, “Participatory Design - Scandinavian Tradition”, 2003
Computing Applications
Enhance workplace skills, rather then degrade them
As tools, applications should support work activities, not make them more rigid
Organizational issues should be a specific focus of the design
In addition to improving productivity, also improve the quality of work and results
Source: Bødker, Grønbæk and Kyng; “Cooperative design: techniques and experiences from the Scandinavian scene”
Involving Users
Improve the knowledge upon which systems are built
Enable workers to develop realistic expectations
Reduce resistance to changeIncrease workplace democracy by giving the members of an organization the right to participate in decisions that are likely to affect their work (for example, automation)
Source: Bjerknes & Bratteteig, 1991; Bjørn-Andersen & Hedberg, 1977
Participatory Design Process
Recognize conflict
Guided by designers
Situated within user's work
Encourage creativity and draw out tacit knowledge
Simulate the future to aid in prediction and evaluation of design
Adapted from Patrick Williams
Role of Designers
Coordinate activities
Facilitate discussion
Prepare materials
Advocate solutions
Adapted from Patrick Williams
Case Study: The AT Project
National Labor Office (AT) in Aarhus, Denmark
Country-wide labor inspection serviceIncludes inspectors, administrative personnel and researchers
Inspectors conduct health inspections, follow up on workplace accidents, and lead campaigns related to specific work hazards and/or industries
Goal of this project was to decentralize application development and support
Action Research - do research while making concrete contributions to the project
Source: Bødker, Grønbæk and Kyng; “Cooperative design: techniques and experiences from the Scandinavian scene”
Stages of the Project
Workplace visits - understand current situation and work practices
Future workshop - compile current problems and brainstorm potential solutions
Organizational game - Envision possibilities by presenting new scenarios using mock-ups and prototypes
Embodying ideas - Continue development by co-creating mock-ups and prototypes and by trying out new / modified work situations
Future Workshops
“The technique is meant to shed light on a common problematic situation, to generate visions about the future, and to discuss how these visions can be realized”
Participants should share a set of problems, a desire to change the work situation, and the means to achieve that change
Usually involves two facilitators, and no more then 20 participants
Stages of a Future Workshop
PreparationCritique - draw out specific issues and problems
Fantasy - imagine how things could be different
Implementation - figuring out how to make it happen
Follow-up
Critique
Structured brainstorming about current problems at work
Everyone gets a chance to speak– Time can be restricted, for example, to 30 secs.
Statements are recorded, and then grouped into a number of themes
Fantasy
Problem themes are inverted to generate positive ideas for the future
“No statement about the future is considered too extreme - if somebody wants it, it’s OK”
Positive visions are grouped under a number of themes
Themes are selected to develop “utopian outlines” - idealistic visions of how things might work in the future
Implementation
Use utopian outlines as a starting point
Envision the resources, systems and organizational changes required to make the vision a reality
Plan how to access those resources, build the systems and gain consensus around the required organizational changes
Organizational Games
“Act out” alternate work organizations and confront the new problems that arise
Using mock-ups and prototypes as “props”Metaphor of acting in a play
– Playground - the “scene” where the action occurs
– Roles - the “parts” that various actors play– Situation cards - introduce particular breakdowns
– Commitments - actions taken by actors in response to specific situations
– Conditions - requirements for taking these actions
– Action plan - how to propose the idea to the rest of the organization and make it happen
Cooperative Prototyping
Prototyping provides learning not only for the designer, but also for the user
Users can understand the potential of technology to impact work, and envision realistic future scenarios
Users and designers cooperatively envision new designs, and inform each other’s perception of their practicality and utility
The final result is not a surprise!
Mock-up Design
Mock-ups and lo-fidelity prototypes provide hands-on experience with new situations
Everyone has the knowledge and tools (pens, scissors, etc.) to make modifications
Everyone understands their limitations
They can be made cheaply
They are fun to use and modify
Limitations of Mock-ups
Changes can be time-consuming
Hard to illustrate dynamic aspects of the interface
Can lead to a disjoint between the design and technical possibilities
Require someone to have a strong understanding of these possibilities
In-class Future Workshop
Redesign 1) how students register for classes or 2) how you selected your project topics for this class– Critique - 10 minutes
– Fantasy - 10 minutes
– Implementation - 5 minutes
Need one facilitator and one documenter
The rest of you can be participants
Limitations of PDRequires close collaboration between users and developers
– Physical proximity– Resources and time to support collaboration– Difficult to overcome cultural, linguistic barriers– Does not address distributed teams, Internet-based systems
Requires strong organization of labor– In Scandinavia, can rely on existence of unions– In other places, unions may not exist, and workers may be
fundamentally disempowered– This makes it difficult to access the “right” users– Users may not be comfortable with articulating their desires– Users may be disappointed when their visions are not
realizedNot all systems are workplace-based
– What about consumer technologies?– What about systems for fun, or communication?
PD ideology can usually be adapted for dealing with these variations, but not all the formalisms carry over
Value Sensitive Design
Value Sensitive Design
“a value refers to what a person or group of people consider important in life”
Value-Sensitive Design is a methodology that explicitly consider the values of users and other stakeholders in the design process
Developed by Batya Friedman and Peter Kahn at UW, along with other collaborators
Source: Friedman, Kahn and Borning; “Value Sensitive Design and Information Systems”
Practical Suggestions for VSD
Start with a Value, Technology or Context
Identify Direct and Indirect Stakeholders
Identify Benefits and Harms for Each Group
Map Benefits and Harms to ValuesConduct a Conceptual Investigation of Values
Identify Potential Value ConflictsWhen conducting interviews, ask “Why?”
Source: Friedman, Kahn and Borning; “Value Sensitive Design and Information Systems”
Important Values for System Design
Human WelfareOwnership and Property
Freedom from BiasUniversal UsabilityAutonomyInformed ConsentSustainability
Source: Friedman, Kahn and Borning; “Value Sensitive Design and Information Systems”
AccountabilityCourtesyIdentityCalmnessTrustPrivacy
For Next Time
Come prepared to present your contextual observations, scenarios and personas!
Put your presentation on a USB drive before class if possible