Co-designing MOOCs with CoDe-Graph

As MOOCs have become a standard format of online learning, it is increasingly important to design courses that fit the needs and contexts of the targeted learners. One way to do so is by actively designing with the subject experts, instructors, and other stakeholders. Within the context of designing MOOCs for disadvantaged groups in Southeast Asia, we explore the three-phase process of co-design. We present a graphical modeling language, CoDe-Graph, which can be used to facilitate the co-design process. We examine how diverse groups of experts provide feedback on design elements and create a common understanding using shared artifacts. Four case studies illustrate how the tool can be used by co-design teams to create and visualize custom MOOC designs.

'Light up for all' - Building Knowledge on Universal Design Through Direct User Contact in Design Workshops

For the creation of inclusive design solutions, designers require relevant knowledge about a diversity of users throughout the design process. Besides understanding users' needs and expectations, the ways in which users perceive and experience the environment contain valuable knowledge for designers. Since users' perceptions and experiences are mainly tacit by nature, they are much more difficult to communicate and therefore more difficult to externalize. Hence, more insight is needed into the ways designers can build knowledge on Universal Design through direct user contact. In a project called 'Light up for all' architecture students are asked to design a light switch and socket, elegant, usable and understandable to the greatest extent possible by everyone. Two workshops with user/experts are organized in the first stages of the design process in which students could gain insight into users' experiences and perceptions through direct contact. Three data collection techniques are used to analyze the teams' design processes: (1) a design diary, (2) observations of the workshops and (3) a focus group. By means of analyzing collected qualitative data, we have identified three different design aspects that affect designers' UD knowledge building process. First, findings give indications on values and limitations of working with selected design artefacts when externalizing users' experiences. Second, the value of stories clearly affected designers' deeper understanding about users' experiences. Finally, results show that in some situations, designers encountered contradictory information between observations and verbal conversations. These insights may help researchers to better understand designers' process of building knowledge on UD from users' experiences and perceptions, which may result in better incorporating users' experiences when designing for everyone.

Design considerations in emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic: a human-centered approach

This paper is in response to the article entitled "The process of designing for learning: understanding university teachers' design work" (Bennett et al., Educ Tech Res Dev 65:125-145, 2017). Bennett et al. (Educ Tech Res Dev 65:125-145) present a descriptive model of the design process that reports findings from a qualitative study investigating the design processes of 30 instructors from 16 Australian universities through semi-structured interviews. This exploratory study provides rich, contextualized descriptions about university teachers' design process and pinpoints key design characteristics as top-down, breadth-first, iterative, responsive, and reflective. These key design characteristics revealed by the rich contextual descriptions could provide applicable insights into the design process especially for new instructors. The findings of the study could inform how learning design could be adapted during an emergency remote teaching (ERT) as it is dynamic and open to revision. A noteworthy limitation of the study is that complementary data such as design artifacts could be utilized to ensure data triangulation in addition to self-reported data obtained via interviews. The study found that university instructors' design process did not appear to draw on instructional design models. Therefore, future studies could focus on to what extent and how such models could be used by university instructors. Lastly, future studies may explore how technology is used in ERT design to support their needs. In this article, I share how design can be informed by humanizing pedagogy and pedagogy of care during ERT.

Designs for Flies + of Mice and Men: Design Approaches to Drosophila melanogaster

Designs for Flies is an award-winning design-led interdisciplinary project between KYOTO Design Lab (D-Lab), the Department of Applied Biology at the Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), Japan. Within the framework of speculative design yet using an inclusive methodology, Frank Kolkman, a young Dutch designer, took Professor Masamitsu Yamaguchi's climbing assay experiment with Drosophila in his genetic mapping for CMT as the point of departure. Kolkman sought to address two questions raised during his initial research: "Could alternative strategies be used to generate interest from pharmaceutical companies for obscure, complicated or 'unmarketable' diseases in drug research?" and "Could transgenic Drosophila be used for the wildcard testing of drug compounds directly by patients at home in the search for a possible cure?" The chapter will describe its genesis, design process and the challenges and potential of interdisciplinary projects of this nature along with the impact of the resulting concept, which incorporated service, system, product and interaction design. It won the Services and Systems category of the Dutch Design Awards (DDW) in 2016, and Kolkman was named DDW's Young Designer of the Year in October 2017. It was followed by Of Flies, Mice and Men: drosophila and the interconnected landscape of genes, a Drosophila-related science communication project by Marcel Helmer, Kolkman's successor as D-Lab Design Associate for which the design brief was based on issues raised by the first project. This is also described to highlight the differing issues, design approaches and results of this science/design collaboration.

Self-efficacy and (vocational) interest in technology and design: an empirical study in seventh and eighth-grade classrooms

The aim of this article is to report the results of an empirical study on adolescents' interest, self-efficacy, and vocational interest in technology and design. Following the expectancy-value model, we wanted to know how context-specific interest in technology and perceived self-efficacy in solving technical tasks are developed at lower secondary-school level and how they predict vocational interest in technology. These personal-trait variables were operationalized in an online survey conducted among 480 students (seventh and eighth grade) in Northwestern Switzerland. Quantitative analyses showed that interest, self-efficacy, and vocational interest vary with respect to theoretical, practical, and creative activities. Moreover, there were marked gender differences in interest and self-efficacy, especially regarding "Using and repairing technical tools" and "Understanding technological processes." No gender differences could be found in "Designing in the context of sustainability," however. Interest, self-efficacy, and vocational interest correlate very highly, but self-efficacy can predict vocational interest in technology better than interest. These results are discussed in the context of recent developments (e.g. STEM initiatives) in the field of technology education worldwide and in particular in Switzerland. According to our analyses and the current discussions about more STEM education and technically skilled teaching staff, schools should provide all students with opportunities to deal with technology, thus enabling them to make manifold experiences in theoretical, practical, creative, and critical ways from early childhood until career choice. At present, this does not seem to be sufficiently the case because otherwise girls would probably not have such negative perceptions of their own abilities.

A novel design process for selection of attributes for inclusion in discrete choice experiments: case study exploring variation in clinical decision-making about thrombolysis in the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke

BACKGROUND

A discrete choice experiment (DCE) is a method used to elicit participants' preferences and the relative importance of different attributes and levels within a decision-making process. DCEs have become popular in healthcare; however, approaches to identify the attributes/levels influencing a decision of interest and to selection methods for their inclusion in a DCE are under-reported. Our objectives were: to explore the development process used to select/present attributes/levels from the identified range that may be influential; to describe a systematic and rigorous development process for design of a DCE in the context of thrombolytic therapy for acute stroke; and, to discuss the advantages of our five-stage approach to enhance current guidance for developing DCEs.

METHODS

A five-stage DCE development process was undertaken. Methods employed included literature review, qualitative analysis of interview and ethnographic data, expert panel discussions, a quantitative structured prioritisation (ranking) exercise and pilot testing of the DCE using a 'think aloud' approach.

RESULTS

The five-stage process reported helped to reduce the list of 22 initial patient-related factors to a final set of nine variable factors and six fixed factors for inclusion in a testable DCE using a vignette model of presentation.

CONCLUSIONS

In order for the data and conclusions generated by DCEs to be deemed valid, it is crucial that the methods of design and development are documented and reported. This paper has detailed a rigorous and systematic approach to DCE development which may be useful to researchers seeking to establish methods for reducing and prioritising attributes for inclusion in future DCEs.

Informing Hospital Change Processes through Visualization and Simulation: A Case Study at a Children's Emergency Clinic

OBJECTIVE

To demonstrate the use of visualization and simulation tools in order to involve stakeholders and inform the process in hospital change processes, illustrated by an empirical study from a children's emergency clinic.

BACKGROUND

Reorganization and redevelopment of a hospital is a complex activity that involves many stakeholders and demands. Visualization and simulation tools have proven useful for involving practitioners and eliciting relevant knowledge. More knowledge is desired about how these tools can be implemented in practice for hospital planning processes.

METHODS

A participatory planning process including practitioners and researchers was executed over a 3-year period to evaluate a combination of visualization and simulation tools to involve stakeholders in the planning process and to elicit knowledge about needs and requirements.

RESULTS

The initial clinic proposal from the architect was discarded as a result of the empirical study. Much general knowledge about the needs of the organization was extracted by means of the adopted tools. Some of the tools proved to be more accessible than others for the practitioners participating in the study. The combination of tools added value to the process by presenting information in alternative ways and eliciting questions from different angles.

CONCLUSIONS

Visualization and simulation tools inform a planning process (or other types of change processes) by providing the means to see beyond present demands and current work structures. Long-term involvement in combination with accessible tools is central for creating a participatory setting where the practitioners' knowledge guides the process.

Cognitive dimensions of talim: evaluating weaving notation through cognitive dimensions (CDs) framework

The design process in Kashmiri carpet weaving is distributed over a number of actors and artifacts and is mediated by a weaving notation called talim. The script encodes entire design in practice-specific symbols. This encoded script is decoded and interpreted via design-specific conventions by weavers to weave the design embedded in it. The cognitive properties of this notational system are described in the paper employing cognitive dimensions (CDs) framework of Green (People and computers, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989) and Blackwell et al. (Cognitive technology: instruments of mind-CT 2001, LNAI 2117, Springer, Berlin, 2001). After introduction to the practice, the design process is described in 'The design process' section which includes coding and decoding of talim. In 'Cognitive dimensions of talim' section, after briefly discussing CDs framework, the specific cognitive dimensions possessed by talim are described in detail.

Space planners' perception of an assessment instrument for briefs in the pre-design phase of new healthcare environments

OBJECTIVE

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the usability of a newly developed instrument designed to assess the content and quality briefs (CQB-I) in programs for new healthcare environments. We studied the perception of using the instrument on a group of space planners.

BACKGROUND

The study is part of a larger project designed to ensure the quality of the planning of new healthcare environments with a focus on documents (programs or briefs) created in the early phases of the planning process. In this study, we used an instrument that measures the clarity of the mission statement for the project based on user needs and care activities that will take place in the new healthcare environment. The instrument further evaluates whether there are clear patient-related outcome measures specified and whether the information in the documents is person-oriented and evidence-based.

METHODS

The study used a mixed-method design where the relevance and usability of the instrument was estimated and a focus group interview was conducted.

RESULTS

The study showed that a CQB-I is perceived to be a relevant instrument primarily as a guide for programming, but also for monitoring the produced programs.

CONCLUSIONS

Instruments like CQB-I can help to bring research results into planning and contribute to dialogue and collaboration in the early phases of a planning process by orienting planning participants to user needs and facilitating the discussion and articulation of clear performance indicators.