For universal design to be successful, it is essential to understand the needs, wants and characteristics of all user groups, particularly those people who find currently available information technology systems frightening, confusing, and difficult to use. A wide range of standards and guidelines are available, but these do not always have sufficient impact on the design process. It is argued that, in order to design for such “digitally disadvantaged” people, it is important that designers develop an empathy with such groups. The paper refers to previous published work and describes more recent examples of how HCI researchers worked with theatre professionals – script writers, actors and directors – to produce a range of dramatic performances, using both film and interactive live theatre. These techniques have been used to raise awareness amongst student and professional designers of the characteristics, needs and wants of digitally disadvantaged people, and to encourage designers to develop an empathy for them. Both questionnaire and anecdotal evidence have shown the power of professional theatre in facilitating the communication of these issues to designers, and suggests how these techniques can be utilized by others in the field. The work reported has been primarily concerned with digitally disadvantaged older users – a group who, because of demographic trends are an increasingly important user group for Information and Computing Technology. It is suggested, however, that theatre can be a valuable tool for raising awareness of the challenges of other user groups, particularly those who are not experienced and confident users of Information Technology.

In this paper, we describe the User Centre at the University of Dundee which provides a space for older people and technology to come together for the benefit of new learning opportunities, social interaction and research.

A proof of concept web search and navigation system was developed for older people for whom the Internet is seen as an alien territory. A joint industry/academia team deployed User Sensitive Inclusive Design principles, focusing on the usability of the interface for this user group. The search and navigation system that was developed was significantly preferred by the user group to that provided by a standard commercial (Internet Service Provider) system; it scored highly for ease of use and the participants reported increased confidence in their ability to master the Internet. Recorded quantitative measures showed fewer task errors. The outcome of the development was a successful "proof of concept" search and navigation system for older novice computer users together with approaches to design and development for those who wish to design for this user group.

This paper discusses the efficacy of narrative video to communicate some of the fundamental differences between older users of ICT interfaces and the interface designers who tend not to be familiar with the general perspectives and user requirements of this and other ‘non-typical’ target groups. Preliminary results show the impact such videos can have on relevant audiences’ perspective on designing systems for older adults. The findings suggest that they can influence the mind set of those with little or no experience of designing for older users and that this influence can persist in the longer term. The findings also suggest that the extent of this influence can be an appropriate alternative to that of meeting and interacting with older users in a user centred design process, which although very valuable can be a logistically (and otherwise) challenging element in the training of prospective software designers. The potential utility and limits of this approach are also discussed.

This paper discusses the use of theatrical techniques to communicate to designers the user requirements for IT interfaces – particularly those of “extreme users” such as older people. The methodology and processes of producing such material in a video form are described, together with the strengths and weaknesses of this approach. The paper concludes by suggesting the various roles live theatre can play in user centered design. Although the research, on which this paper is based, focuses on the challenges presented by older and disabled users, the techniques described are applicable to a wider range of users.

A multidisciplinary team from industry, government, and academia developed prototype email, Web search, and navigation systems for users over 60 years old who were inexperienced in using computers and had never used the Internet. The academics encountered problems in persuading other team members of the specific challenges of designing for and working with older people. A number of ways of overcoming such challenges were implemented, and the final “radically simple” systems evaluated by a team of older people. The collaboration highlighted the conflicting pressures of the commercial world and the time and patience needed to design for older users.

Contemporary technology offers many benefits to older people, but these are often rendered inaccessible through poor software design. As the Internet increasingly becomes a source of information and services it is vital to ensure that older people can access these resources. As part of project funded by the UK government, a multi-disciplinary team set out to develop usable software that would help to introduce older people to the Internet. The first step was to develop an email system for older people with no experience of Internet use. The project was intended to show that it is possible to design usable technology for this group and to explore some of the issues involved in doing so. Design and technical challenges necessitated various tradeoffs. The system produced demonstrated the success of the design decisions: it was significantly easier to use than, and preferred to, a commercial equivalent by a group of older people with no experience of Internet use. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Speech technology can help people with disabilities. Blind and non-speaking people were amongst the first to be provided with commercially available speech synthesis systems, and, to this day, represent a much higher percentage of users of this technology than their numbers would predict. Speech synthesis technology has, for example, transformed the lives of many blind people, but the success of speech output to allow blind people to word processes, browse the web, and use domestic appliances should not to lull us into a false sense of security. In the main, these users were young, aware of their limitations, and of the substantial potential impact of such technology on their life styles, and were generally highly motivated to make a success of their use of the technology. The speech community needs to be aware of the major differences between the young disabled people who have found speech technology so useful, and the other groups of people who are excluded from “e-society”. An example is older people. These have a much greater range of characteristics than younger people and these characteristics change more rapidly with time. Very importantly for speech technologists, most older people possess multiple minor disabilities, which can seriously interact, particularly in the context of a human machine communication. In addition, a relatively high proportion of older people also have a major disability.

This paper describes the ongoing development of a highly configurable word processing environment developed using a pragmatic, obstacle-by-obstacle approach to alleviating some of the visual problems encountered by dyslexic computer users. The paper describes the current version of the software and the development methodology as well as the results of a pilot study which indicated that visual environment individually configured using the SeeWord software improved reading accuracy as well as subjectively rated reading comfort.

In this paper, we describe why designers need to look beyond the twin aims of designing for the 'typical' user and designing "prostheses" Making accessible interfaces for older people is a unique but many-faceted challenge. Effective applications and interface design needs to address the dynamic diversity of the human species. We introduce a new design paradigm, Design for Dynamic Diversity, and suggest a methodology to assist its achievement, User Sensitive Inclusive Design. To support our argument for a new form of design we report experimentation, which indicates that older people have significantly different and dynamically changing needs. We also put forward initial solutions for Designing for Dynamic Diversity, where memory, vision and confidence provide the parameters for discussion, and illustrate the importance of User Sensitive Inclusive Design in establishing a framework for the operation of Design for Dynamic Diversity.

Article Share on Assets: where do we go from here? Author: Alan F. Newell The University of Dundee, Scotland The University of Dundee, ScotlandView Profile Authors Info & Claims Assets '02: Proceedings of the fifth international ACM conference on Assistive technologiesJuly 2002Pages 1–3https://doi.org/10.1145/638249.638251Published:08 July 2002Publication History 1citation543DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations1Total Downloads543Last 12 Months4Last 6 weeks0 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteGet Access

This research describes the development of a highly configurable word processing environment to alleviate some of the difficulties encountered by dyslexics when producing and reading text. It also describes a pragmatic, empirical methodology, closely involving dyslexic users, which has proved highly effective.

The University of Delaware and the University of Dundee are collaborating on a project that is investigating the application of spatialization and spatial metaphors to interfaces for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. This paper outlines the project's motivation, goals, and methodological considerations. It presents a number of design principles obtained from a review of the HCI literature. Finally, it describes progress on the demonstration of this approach. This application called VAL provides a computer-based word board that retains spatial equivalence to the user's paper-based system. It also allows the user to access an extended lexicon through an interface to the WordNet lexical database.

A system for producing synthetic speech which incorporates vocal emotion effects has been developed. This has been incorporated into a communication prosthesis for non-vocal people to give them more freedom of expression via a synthetic voice. A range of common emotions can be simulated by the system.