Investigating design issues in household environments.

Baillie, Lynne; Benyon, David; Macaulay, Catriona; Petersen, M G

Abstract

This paper argues that the current involvement of end users in the design of technological artefacts is too superficial. It is common to involve people in requirements generation, but rarely in product inception or design. A study is reported involving five households in central Scotland, who were each visited on three occasions, using a new investigative framework. Illustrative examples are provided of the strengths and weaknesses of the methods used. Despite the latter, it is demonstrated that the general public can both generate and critique design ideas and that valuable contributions to understanding people's relationships with technologies can be expected both from children and from the elderly.

Citation

Baillie, L., Benyon, D., Macaulay, C., & Petersen, M. G. (2003). Investigating design issues in household environments. Cognition, Technology and Work, 5, 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-002-0116-5

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2003-04
• Deposit Date: Jun 29, 2010
• Print ISSN: 1435-5558
• Electronic ISSN: 1435-5566
• Publisher: BMC
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Pages: 33-43
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-002-0116-5
• Keywords: Home studies; home workshop; household; technology tour; user-centred design
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/3304
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10111-002-0116-5