Baillie, Lynne, Benyon, David, Macaulay, Catriona and Petersen, M G (2003) Investigating design issues in household environments. Cognition, Technology and Work, 5 (1). pp. 33-43. ISSN 1435-5558

PDF Restricted to Registered users only Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial. Download (308kB) | Request a copy

Abstract/Description

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.

Actions (login required)