From social care professional to App developer: there isn't an App for that!

Ms. Miriam O’ Sullivan1, Mr. Peter Given2, Dr. Tom Farrelly1

1. Department of Social Sciences, Institute of Technology Tralee2. Department of Computer Science, Institute of Technology Tralee

Acknowledgements: Ms. Anne O’ Brien and Keith O Faolian (IMaR)

Introduction:

The development of communication Apps for children with Autistic Spectrum

Disorder (ASD) have traditionally taken two routes: the first is by software developers or

secondly, by parents of children with ASD (O’ Cionnaith, 2010; Domican, 2011; Voice4u,

2016). However, both of these routes have limitations. These Apps are either developed by

someone who has never met or interacted with children with ASD or are developed based

upon bespoke requests from parents of children with ASD (McEwen, 2014). The

involvement of social care professionals within this type of development cycle is limited

even though they hold a sound knowledge base for this population. As a result of the

position that social care professionals occupy in relation to ASD it is important that they not

only become involved but become empowered to develop these types of health and social

care informatics Apps. As stated by The Director of Social Services in America (2011), it is

better for social care professionals to up-skill into the computer world as opposed to

computer professionals attempting to understand ‘our’ world.

The Journey to becoming an Interdisciplinary Professional:

For a social care professional to engage the world of computer science it is imperative

that they engage in continued professional development (CPD). The purpose of engaging in

CPD is not only to have the ability to develop Apps within the health and social care

informatics sector but also to be able to communicate with those in the computer science

sector. Engaging in this process brings with it a steep learning curve that requires focus and

determination; however, the benefits derived outweigh the challenges. The remainder of

this paper focuses on; the CPD process and tools required for social care professionals to

become interdisciplinary, the barriers to engaging in App development and the benefits that

can be received from a multi-disciplinary perspective.

In order for a social care professional to up-skill and become an App developer they

are required to learn programming languages; not an easy task, hence the title: if only there

was an App for that. The programming languages undertaken by the social care professional

were HTML, CSS and JavaScript. These three languages facilitated the social care

professional in developing an App with children with ASD as opposed to for them. The three

languages were learned over a 24 week period through attending two lectures per week

accompanied by extensive work outside of class time. The concepts behind these languages

were polar opposite to those of social care practice.

Within social care practice the focus of any intervention is on the person being

supported with adaptations being made to meet their needs. There is also a hands-on

support to this with professionals not only providing basic care to vulnerable people but

striving to implement the best possible interventions for that person. The social care sector

is knitted in multi-disciplinary approaches while taking a holistic approach to meeting the

needs of individuals. The concept of programming languages were ones that were rooted in

independent learning with functionality and accuracy being of primary concern. The

functionality of the App was dependent on your accuracy of skills in programming the App;

if there was any missing link be it large or small the App simply did not work. The power of a

semi-colon became abundantly clear throughout this process. Even though both of these

sectors hold similarities within their practices; such as, motivation, perseverance and

meeting the needs of the people we support, the practicalities of learning and implementing

programming languages was different to the expertise and knowledge of a social care

professional. However, the rapidly developing area of technology now provides platforms of

development for people who are not programmers by trade. Tools have become available

(such as PhoneGap, AppInventor, iBuild, etc.) to aid in the development of Apps which

essentially increases accessibility for social care professionals to independently enter the

sector of health and social care informatics. The tools available vary in relation to the skills

and knowledge required along with their flexibility in adapting functions for inclusion within

the App. There are many online tools available for quick development of Apps which require

varying levels of prior knowledge; the makers of some of the online tools state claim that

little or no programming experience is required (Ogbo, 2015). However, the flexibility within

these tools are limited and building anything beyond a basic business App becomes difficult.

As stated by Wright (2014), in order to begin your journey to becoming a competent

App developer, learning languages for different platforms requires a minimum of twelve to

eighteen months for each programming language. As this social care professional did not

have this amount of time, other methods required consideration. As a result of the fact that

the social care professional was engaging with children with ASD for the purpose of the

research, the operating system (iOS, Android, Windows, etc.) that would be used had not

been decided prior to commencing the research. Due to the symptomology of children with

ASD, it was important to incorporate their needs when also choosing a mobile device as it

was for their use. Therefore, the identification of an operating system was dependent upon

the needs of end users. Therefore, it was decided that a web App would be most beneficial

due to its flexibility across platforms (Vadnais, 2013). This would then be wrapped in a

native wrapper1 through software such as PhoneGap to produce an App (Shah, 2015). The

development of the App not only focused on producing working prototypes but also

incorporated a personal development journey to reach this point through the use of other

tools.

Other tools utilised within this research were paper-pencil, AppInventor and

PhoneGap. The social care professional began developing the App by simply drawing the

App and functions on paper (often referred to as low-fidelity); this was the first prototype to

be introduced to stakeholders for feedback. Upon learning more skills in the area of

programming languages the social care professional then engaged with a free online course

called AppInventor. This course facilitated the social care professional in bridging the gap

between learning HTML 2and CSS 3and continuing on to learn JavaScript. The use of HTML

and CSS focus on the style and layout of the App while JavaScript focuses on the background

functionality. Thus, the transition from one to the other would have been steep if a bridging

module had not been implemented. This course also allowed the social care professional to

develop different types of working prototype Apps, such as, quizzes and games. This

reinforced the skills learned during the CPD process and provided the social care

professional with the confidence to progress to programming the App with the

1 A native wrapper allows developers to leverage much of the benefits of a native application while still using HTML for the majority of content (Gorbsky, 2015).2 HTML defines ‘the structure and layout of a Web document by using a variety of tags and attributes’ (Beal, 2016, pg. 1).3 CSS describes ‘how HTML elements are to be displayed on screen’ (W3Schools, 2016, pg.1). CSS provides style to a web document.

participants. The task of learning programming languages was insightful for the researcher

but more importantly it provided an understanding of a discipline that they were not

familiar with prior to this. The researcher also developed the ability to communicate with

programmers while using their jargon and terminology as a result of learning programming

languages. This was an important to learn as it became evident throughout the process of

the research through collaborations with programmers that utilising industry terminology

increased accessibility amongst both parties.

Recommendations for the development of future health and social care informatics Apps:

In light of the above journey, as for the social care professional being the

independent developer of the App; it is not recommended. The process is not only

challenging and laborious but it was time consuming. It would have been much more

productive and effective for the social care professional to engage in CPD classes, collect

user requirements, conduct usability testing and engage in the journey of UCD, but, enlist a

qualified and experienced App developer to assemble the logistics of the App. The

production of an App that is of high standard and quality is essential to ensure a positive

user experience and to motivate end users to engage with the App (Norman and Nielsen,

2016). The engagement in the CPD and UCD4 processes were key learning experiences that

enriched the procedures and outcomes of the research and are a recommended step for

future Social Care Practitioners to engage with. However, for the future enhancement of

technology and App development it is the researcher’s recommendation to enlist an App

developer. A multi-disciplinary team is essential for designing technology with children with

ASD; thus, both disciplines hold valuable expertise and positions within the process. Social

Care Professionals provide web and App developers with the knowledge they require to

develop effectively for this population. As stated by Pagni Britto (2015), ‘researchers are

needed to investigate which design features are critical to provide therapeutic and

pedagogical effect for people with ASD in order to understand the potential impact of

technology in their change of behaviour and provide a formalisation of this knowledge for

web developers and designers’ (pg. 4).

The benefits that can be received from engaging in a multi-disciplinary App

development project can be attributed not only to children with ASD but also their

4 User Centred Design (UCD) is an iterative design process that is based on explicit understanding of the end users, tasks and environments with the aim of enhancing the user experience (Usability.gov, 2016).

stakeholders and the discipline of computer science. The use of user-centred design (UCD) is

a methodology that is advertised within the computer science discipline; however, the true

extent of end-user involvement is questionable. This is where the social care professional

holds a vital role. If the social care professional has up-skilled to become interdisciplinary to

develop Apps they have the ability to facilitate the process of UCD. The social care

professional can independently engage in the delivery of this framework. If user

requirements surpass the programming skills of the social care professional it does not

eliminate the social care professional from the process. It simply requires greater

collaborations across disciplines. Without the assistance of the software developer, the

social care professional can complete two thirds of the design phase which is nearly 50% of

the overall framework. Upon collaboration with the software developer the social care

professional can again independently engage in the UCD framework up until and including

the final stage; deployment. Thus, the social care professional is a key stakeholder within

this process and has the ability and knowledge to facilitate the development of health and

social care informatics Apps. The social care professional is valuable to the software

developer in three key areas; accessing populations, knowledge base on populations and

collecting user requirements. As a result of the fact that the development of health and

social care informatics App development involves populations that are deemed vulnerable

within society the issue of ethics is of upmost concern. Due to the expertise held by social

care professionals, accessing these populations is not a barrier once safeguarding protocols

are in place (i.e. parental consent, informed consent, etc.). However, access to end users

and vulnerable populations would prove a barrier for programmers due to their lack of

experience and knowledge within the area. Thus, the collaboration between programmers

and social care professionals is a viable option for the development of future health and

social care informatics Apps. Programmers provide social care professionals with the skills to

develop Apps with end users that meet their needs and social care professionals provide

programmers with the knowledge about specific populations along with access and the

opportunity to engage in developments that truly adapt the user centred design process.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the journey from social care professional to App developer is one that

involves a steep learning curve. However, the knowledge gained from the journey not only

produced an App that was end-user led but it provided the social care professional with the

knowledge and expertise to facilitate the development with stakeholders. The social care

professional embarked on a journey that created an interdisciplinary professional within

herself. The completion of CPD has now given the social care professional the knowledge

and skills to liaise and collaborate with programmers and the competence to facilitate the

development of health and social care informatics Apps through a user centred design

process. There is no easy way to develop Apps that provide end users with the experience

they need; thus, the future for the development of health and social care informatics Apps

rests upon the collaboration between programmers, social care professionals and

stakeholders. The development of Apps that meet the needs of end users can only be

developed with end users; thus, the social care professional holds an important role in

accessing those populations. The social care professional holds the knowledge to assist with

the development of prototypes and engage in usability testing with end users. Even though

there are many barriers for a social care professional entering the world of App

development is essential. In order for a social care professional to engage efficiently and

effectively it is imperative to hold a knowledge base on the world of programming and App

development. Gaining insight into this world and learning the languages opens the lines of

communication between programmers and end users. It provides transparency around the

needs of end users and as a result the social care professional can navigate the development

by being aware of and knowing the terminology within the programming world.

 

           

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