technological innovations and users requirements: how to fill the gap? an enduser organisation...

AEGIS 1° International Conference

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND USER REQUIREMENTS: HOW TO FILL THE GAP?

AN END-USER ORGANISATION PERSPECTIVE

Speaker: F. Cesaroni

Autors: F. Cesaroni; M. Antomarini; E. Piangerelli, F. Scocchera; C. Sdogati

AEGIS 1° International Conference Seville, 7/8 October 2010

Purpose of this presentation

To highlight problematic areas end-user organisations meet when taking part to AT

research projects devoted to older and disabled persons.


Two contrasting approaches contribute to broaden the cultural gap between engineers/technicians and social scientists:

the “Technological push” urges producers to achieve important technical results in a limited period of time;

The“Demand-pull” advocates the users centrality and the priority of their requirements.


End-user organisation roles

user needs analysis

definition of scenarios of use

field trials

assessment of the users satisfaction and the system usability

and acceptability

support to the technical partners during the development, to

ensure the match between the functional specifications and the

user requirements, and to guarantee the users centrality in the

design process.


COOSS experience in 4 different

EU research projects is quickly illustrated,

with the focus on the users’ perspective.


THE USER PROJECT - TIDE programme

It proposed a practical handbook and a handy guidance on:

how to gather and analyse the user needs

how to turn them into functional specifications

how to ensure the user centrality in the design process.

Concepts as “usability”, “user-centred design”, “acceptability”, “user requirements” started to enter into the authors’ practice since then.


THE VISIOBOARD PROJECT – (5FP): a positive example

It developed a PC to be accessed through the eyes movement. Cameras incorporated in the PC frame captured the eye position, calibrating the system accordingly.

To activate an application, the user only had to stare at the desired icon in the screen.

The project potential was enormous, giving people with no other residual abilities than their eyes movement an opportunity to communicate, to read and write, and to activate common home applications (turn-on and off the TV, the radio, start the heater, call for help, etc...).


THE VISIOBOARD PROJECT

Among the volunteers testing the system, there was a boy on a wheelchair. Unforeseen involuntary spasms at his legs violently moved the table where the system was positioned, making the delicate system get stuck.

It revealed to be a common feature on subjects suffering from his syndrome; the problem was immediately faced and easily solved with a mechanic arm supporting the screen, demonstrating attention and compliance with the user requirements.


THE CAALYX PROJECT (6FP) – a challenging experience

It proposed a bracelet for elderly people, constantly monitoring their vital signs and detecting eventual falls in real time.

During the user-needs analysis, the system components, its functionality and advantages were explained to real users through illustrations, being a system mock-up missing.

During the development, the bracelet revealed inappropriate, being its contact with the human body too loose. An elastic belt was proposed instead, as its adhesion to the body ensured a reliable communication of data. It was tested with real users, and it resulted very successful under a technical perspective.


Some mismatches between the users requirements and the technical achievements.

During the user needs analysis, elderly had appreciated the idea of a bracelet, as it was discrete and not stigmatising, easy to wear and use, self-calibrating and requiring no complicated intervention on their part.

But:The elastic belt substituted the expected bracelet, requiring fingers strength and dexterity to fasten and unfasten it;

Three electrodes had to be fixed in specific areas of the body, with wires forming a bulky knot difficult to be hidden under the dresses;

A mobile phone with small buttons and tiny characters on the screen had to be daily calibrated by the users themselves.


To minimise the users’ difficulties, daily assistance was guaranteed to help users to wear, calibrate and remove the system.

Users sometimes asked to be “released” earlier than the 5 hours a day fixed by the protocol, because annoyed by the electrodes, or by the belt hindering a comfortable afternoon rest, or simply because they weren’t in the proper mood to test the system that day.

These “tantrums” obviously complicated the validation process, but highlighted an uneasiness worth to be taken into account to make the

prototype a marketable product.


THE CONFIDENCE PROJECT (7FP) – an ongoing experience

It is developing a system conceived to prevent falls by the detection of anomalous behaviours on the users’ part. The system consists of small body tags, sensors to be fixed on the home furniture, a base station and a portable device acting as user interface.

Wireless communication among the devices facilitates the users’ movements while monitored by the system.

Technical complications imposed the revision of the initial conception, and a wire-based communication system is now under development.


THE CONFIDENCE PROJECT

40 users were selected for the system testing, recruited according to well defined criteria to guarantee the target homogeneity.

The unexpected intrusiveness of the new system may cause some withdrawals. The solutions can be: to recruit a smaller group of “homogeneous” users to maintain the number of 40 users, widening the recruitment criteria. The risk is that a “heterogeneous” group might distort the scientific meaningfulness in the comparison of data.


THE CONFIDENCE PROJECT

Matching rigorous scientific methods with the users’ habits and moods is a frequent problem a user organisation experiences.

Validation protocols and evaluation tests rely on methodological approaches implying schematisations and objective measurements, while individuals are hardly adaptable to predefined schemes.

Elderly persons are often intimidated by things they don’t know; decency and personal dignity often lead them to refuse to test a device, or to interrupt its use when they feel inadequate and unable to manage.

Human dignity is an aspect requiring proper consideration when a validation plan is drafted, as it can highly affect its process.


Hints for discussion

Technology develops very quickly, and very quicly becomes obsolete. But elderly people attitude doesn’t change so quickly as technology does.

Their resistance to technological solutions is sometimes due to a prejudicial refusal of a “machine” as assistive support, still preferring the human-based care.



If technical achievements are the main goals in AT solutions, their usability and acceptability, as well as the related ethical issues, should be equally considered.

After 15 years of experience, the feeling is that the “user centred design” approach still finds it difficult to fully impose itself.



There is a “cultural” problem at the basis of this: the high-education models concentrate in their specific disciplines,with no attention to transversal competencies.

When professionals with different backgrounds worktogether, they often tend to consider their field of expertiseprevailing on the others in terms of importance.

This attitude hinders dialogue, with detrimental effects onthe design process.



Demographists and statesmen unanimously indicate the AT industry for older and disabled people the most promising market for the next 30 years.

Promoting interdisciplinary and positive communicationcan reveal a first step to reduce the gap betweenengineers/developers and social scientists.


Thanks for your attention


technological innovations and users requirements: how to fill the gap? an enduser organisation...

Technology

user requirements

users requirements

user centrality

users centrality

real users

sdogati aegis

users perspective

users satisfaction