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In co-design, solutions are generated to serve people’s needs, short term and/or long term, through their involvement in parts of the design process. Methods like contextmapping and explorative prototyping serve these participatory processes. They help designers to step into the users’ shoes, to explore design solutions from and with their perspectives. In circumstances where contact with users is restricted, such as the recent lockdowns, user involvement is hindered and we need to find alternative ways to proceed with involving users in design processes. Instead of focussing on what is impossible because of the restrictions, we focussed on the opportunities it can bring. This paper shows that co-design is possible in times of a lockdown by deploying users in the role of co-explorer, creating ownership among users, using digital means, and obtaining an opportunity-oriented mindset.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. Student mental health and wellbeing have come under increased scrutiny in recent years. Postgraduate research (PGR) students are at risk of experiencing mental health concerns and this, with the often isolated and competitive nature of their work, can impact their sense of community and social connectedness. In response to these concerns, we designed Pears, a system to connect PGR students for regular “pearings” (in-person meetings) and provide activities to promote reflection and conversation. A four-week evaluation of Pears with 15 students highlighted its potential to sometimes, but not always, facilitate peer support. Some participants would instead meet formally and according to their needs, others instead used the system to make new social connections. Additionally, some participants who faced work-related difficulties during the study found using the system contributed to their stress levels. We conclude by noting how technologies that encourage peer support can help build social relationships, providing an avenue to share similar PhD experiences and guidance for those new to the experience, while importantly raising awareness and an understanding for the need to take time for self-care. However, these technologies must be utilised carefully, and are not a replacement for other sources of student support in universities.

Navigating a ship is a complex task that requires close interaction between navigators and technology available on the ship’s bridge. The quality of this interaction depends on human and organisational factors, but also on technological design. This is recognized by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through the SOLAS V/15 regulation that requires human factor considerations in bridge design. The objective of this paper is to investigate how tensions between the main stakeholders’ interests and perspectives in ship bridge design may influence the achievement of the goals set forth in the SOLAS V/15 regulation. This objective is explored through a qualitative study in the maritime industry, involving seafarers, shipowners, and equipment manufacturers. We find suboptimal ship bridge design usability to be connected to structural characteristics of the maritime sector, where different aims and perspectives between core stakeholders impairs alignment with respect to conception of work-as-done in the operative environment. We also find that profitability is a major driver for the blunt end stakeholders, for whom the relation between usability and profitability is perceived as a trade-off rather than of synergy. We conclude that there is a need to develop processes, enablers, and management tools to (1) update the understanding of the professional competence needed in the technology dense work environment on ship bridges today; (2) strengthen the maritime stakeholders’ awareness of the advantages of human-centred design (HCD) which are both operator well-being and system performance; (3) enable implementation of HCD into existing design and development processes; (4) provide metrics for business cases enabling informed ergonomic investment decisions.

This editorial summarizes the background and findings of the First Mini-Conference on Transdisciplinary Research and Design (TRaD 2022) held in Oulu. We describe the aim and vision of the conference, the conference theme, the articles presented and published in the conference proceedings, and the history of the research groups organizing the conference. Furthermore, in the editorial we highlight the main findings in relation to the conference aim. We discuss the conceptualization of transdisciplinarity and directions for further research and collaboration on this topic.

Human-centred design has grown into a widely applied field that has produced a large number of standards, methods and guidelines for designing meaningful and usable products and services and direct contact to users seems to define whether a project is considered human-centric or not. However, as the field has grown more mature, companies have also matured in human-centredness, and thus, they have already accumulated user knowledge and may not need to start from the beginning in each project. This paper presents a case study of a human-centred-design–mature company, where first-hand access to users was blocked due to confidentiality. The project team had to rely on other sources of user knowledge. They utilized user representations that were based on earlier user studies and other sources, and the company also employed in-house users who gave their input in the product development process. Together these resulted in a successful design project.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Design e Multimédia apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia Nos últimos anos, o mundo tem-se vindo a preparar para a quarta revolução industrial, vulgarmente referida como Indústria 4.0. Apesar de existirem várias abordagens e teorias distintas quanto à visão Indústria 4.0, a característica comum que caracteriza melhor essa revolução é a simbiose entre o Homem e a máquina. As diferenças geradas por esta nova revolução podem identificar-se através de Sistemas Ciber-Físicos, Internet das Coisas, Realidade Aumentada e Realidade Virtual. São tecnologias como estas que se espera que integrem futuros chãos-de-fábricas e que trabalhem em cooperação com os trabalhadores destes locais. É esperado que esta cooperação melhore a produtividade, gere um crescimento de receitas, reduza as perdas de tempo e melhore o controlo de danos. Para atingir esse objetivo, já foram consideradas múltiplas estratégias a serem integradas e adaptadas em fábricas. Uma das estratégias mais importantes para acompanhar e seguir os chãos-de-fábricas e os trabalhadores é receber feedback dos mesmos em tempo real. Existem, atualmente, tecnologias que se mantêm a par das tarefas, da informação relativa à saúde e outras métricas. Nestas tecnologias, é importante que essa informação seja compreensível para todos os utilizadores das mesmas, desde operadores de chão-de-fábrica a responsáveis de turno ou área. Assim sendo, o foco principal desta dissertação debruça-se sobre a interação entre os trabalhadores e a tecnologia, bem como a devolução de informação e necessária compreensão por parte dos trabalhadores das métricas acima mencionadas (tarefas, atividade, saúde, entre outros). Apoiada nas áreas de Interação Humano-Computador e Visualização, o objetivo principal desta dissertação é gerar soluções de visualização de dados para a aplicação a desenvolver pela Fraunhofer AICOS, bem como prototipar, testar e validar essas soluções. O processo de trabalho incluiu observação, entrevistas e sessões de co-criação junto dos trabalhadores da Bosch, do IKEA e da OLI, a prototipagem e validação das soluções junto de peritos das áreas de Interação Humano-Computador, Design de Comunicação e Design de Produto. Este processo permitiu o desenvolvimento de diretrizes preliminares para a representação de dados em contextos de chão-de-fábrica. Estas diretrizes preliminares, permitirão uma leitura e compreensão facilitadas por parte dos trabalhadores e servirão para informar o design e o desenvolvimento de tecnologia nestes contextos. For the last few years, the world has been preparing for the fourth industrial revolution, which is commonly mentioned as Industry 4.0. Even though there are different approaches and visions for Industry 4.0, what characterises it the most is the symbiosis between man and the machine. The differences generated in this new revolution can be identified through Cyber-Physical Systems, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality. Technologies such as these are expected to integrate shop floors and work in cooperation with operators. It is expected that this cooperation will increase productivity, generate revenue growth, reduce time loss and improve damage control. In working towards achieving this goal, multiple strategies to adapt factories and the future workplace have been considered. One of the most important strategies is to keep tracking shop floors and the operators, and keep receiving real-time feedback from them. To receive information, there are technologies that allow the tracking of tasks, health related information and other metrics. In these technologies, it is important that information is understandable for everyone, from operators to shift or area supervisors. Hereby, the main focus of this dissertation leans on the interaction between operators and technology as well as the return of information and necessary comprehension from workers of the metrics mentioned above (tasks, activity, health, and so on). Supported by Human-Computer Interaction and Visualization, the main goal of this dissertation is to generate visual solutions for the application to be developed by Fraunhofer AICOS, as well as prototype, test and validate those solutions. The work plan includes observation, interviews, and Co-Design sessions with workers from Boshc, IKEA, and OLI, prototyping, and validation of those solutions with experts from the areas of Human-Computer Interaction, Communication Design and Product Design. This process allowed the development of preliminary guidelines for data representation in shop floor contexts. These preliminary guidelines will allow the ease of readability and comprehension from workers and will inform the design and development of technology in these contexts.

This paper describes the design and development of a wearable device, able to monitor physiological data, movement and falls, for fragile older person who require health care. Some approaches of Universal Design and Human-Centred Design were used, which allowed to evaluate and design the interaction between the person and the system. From a design point of view, studies on wearability and the most appropriate landmarks of the human body were carried out, suitable for monitoring heartbeat, movement and falls. From an engineering point of view, the main challenge was the miniaturization of the electronic components for the development of a wearable device to be placed on a small surface of the body, able to allow the performance of daily activities without altering the natural movements of the user, also considering the physical limitations of older and fragile people. Our results indicate how digital technologies, specifically wearable, can be a resource to support the independence and psycho-physical well-being of old people. The next step of the research program concerns the experimentation with a significant sample of typical users (elderly and socio-health professionals), both in nursing home and at home.

Ein hoher Anteil an einspurigen Nebenbahnstrecken des österreichischen Schienenverkehrs ist unrentabel oder verursacht sogar Verluste, weil er für Fahrgäste wegen mangelnder Flexibilität nicht attraktiv erscheint. Um die komplette Außerbetriebnahme bzw. den verlustreichen Betrieb dieser Nebenbahnstrecken zu vermeiden, wurde die klassische Funktionsweise des Eisenbahnsystems in diesen speziellen Fällen neu überlegt. Aus dieser Überlegung entstand das Konzept AuSoDoTS (Autonomous Secondary-line on-Demand open-Track Systems). Dieses Konzept basiert auf ein sogenanntes Tram-on-Demand--System, nach dem die Züge nicht mehr nach Fahrplan, sondern nach Bedarf fahren. Auf der Suche nach einer bewährten Benutzeroberfläche für das AuSoDoTS-Konzept konnte man kein geeignetes Beispiel finden. Heutzutage sind schienengebundene und in der Regel automatisch verkehrende Verkehrsmittel (People mover) auf vielen Flughäfen und in vielen Großstädten keine Seltenheit mehr. Aufgrund eines vorprogrammierten Fahrplans ist eine Interaktion mit dem Benutzer in autonom verkehrenden Verkehrsmitteln nicht notwendig: Der Betrieb funktioniert automatisch und problemlos. Infolgedessen war es bis jetzt nicht erforderlich eine Benutzeroberfläche für ein ähnliches System wie das AuSoDoTS zu entwickeln. Aus diesem Grund steht die Entwicklung eines User Interfaces im Mittelpunkt der Betrachtungen vorliegender Arbeit, wobei Antworten unter anderem auf die Fragen gesucht werden: wie eine Benutzeroberfläche für AuSoDoTS aussehen und funktionieren soll, um die Attraktivität für die Fahrgäste und die Verfügbarkeit des Systems positiv zu beeinflussen. A large proportion of single-track secondary lines of the Austrian public railroad system is unprofitable or even operates at a loss. It might derive from the fact that these lines do not seem attractive for passengers due to their low flexibility. In order to avoid the complete decommissioning or the uneconomical operation of these secondary railway lines, the standard means of operation of the railroad system is worth reconsidering. A possible solution could be the AuSoDoTS (Autonomous Secondary-line on-Demand open-Track Systems). This concept is based on a so-called tram-on-demand system, where the trains no longer run on schedule, but on demand. During the search for a user interface applicable for the AuSoDoTS concept, no suitable examples could be found. Undoubtedly, automated people movers (APMs) that operate unattended are no longer a curiosity at many airports and in large cities. However, their pre-programmed timetables require no interaction with the user. As a result, it seems that such a user interface for a system like AuSoDoTS has yet not been developed. Consequently, the development of a user interface is the focus of this present work, where answers are sought to the questions: how to make the platform most appealing for users and how it should operate in order to positively influence the attractiveness for passengers and the availability of the system. Abweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des Verfassers Masterarbeit Wien, FH Campus Wien 2021

The paper describes the design case of an accessible handweaving loom that allows people with different disabilities, including cognitive and sensorial disabilities, to weave independently, promoting self-expression and stimulating creativity. The project developed through an intense phase of prototyping activities, resulting in the re-design of a handweaving loom enhanced and transformed through rapid prototyping using digital fabrication technology. People with various types of disabilities, their caregivers and weaving experts were engaged in a series of participatory design workshops focused on eliciting requirements and desires and inspiring the design process. Throughout the project and in the attempt to integrate some automation in the weaving process, a number of issues emerged regarding how to balance flexibility and guidance to support the creative process without constraining it. The discussion of the design case offers a contribution on design for accessibility and a concrete case to reflect on the importance of supporting and stimulating self-expression and creativity in people with special needs. The paper concludes with design recommendations to accommodate needs of people with disabilities which range from functional and instrumental needs, to experiential needs including aesthetics, self-expression and creativity which are usually overlooked in accessibility guidelines.

This special issue contributes to the achievement of challenges related to human factors and automation dedicated to future railway systems. It includes transverse research topics by considering several emerging trends as the design of learning systems, of grades of automation, of cooperative system, or of analysis approaches about feedback of experience. To do so, contributions are detailed in different railway organization levels as training, design, operation, or maintenance. There are based on field studies, on simulation environments or on accident reports. They reveal the value of taking the human into account in the control and supervisory loop for the design, the analysis and the evaluation of future railway systems. Human-centered automation can indeed make system more resilient to various risks and threats by including human contributions through different degrees of automation and modalities of human–machine interaction.

CHIRA 2020, 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications, Online virtual conference, 05/11/2020 - 06/11/2020; International audience; The importance of informal communication between manual vehicles drivers and pedestrians in order to prevent misinterpretation, and thus accidents, in road-crossing situations has been widely shown in the literature. Such crucial communication consequently raises the issue of the introduction of automated vehicles (AVs) on the roads, in which case the status of the driver becomes less obvious. In this paper, we present a novel simulation platform, the V-HCD, allowing the conduct of immersive experimentations, both from the pedestrian's and the driver's point of view. This platform will be used to study the acceptance of the automated vehicle for the European SUaaVE project, and further to support the human-centred design of a future empathic AV.

In this paper, we provide a theoretical and experimental investigation on human–robot interaction scenarios where collaborative activities are perceived more meaningful and easier to perform by the human agent in the situation of reciprocal engagement with the robot. Inspired by the perceptual-crossing paradigm (Auvray and Rohde in Front Hum Neurosci, [1]), we defined reciprocal engagement as an interaction concept that seeks to extend perceptual crossing to functional purposes. For instance, when a robot and a person face a door and they both intend to go through it, a designed behaviour negotiates who is to go first in appropriate manner, either the human or the robot. The objective of the study is to explore social coordination mechanisms that are easy and natural for the human agent in order to engage in interaction with a robot. Two experiments were conducted which explore interaction scenarios with and without reciprocal engagement between a person and a robot to appreciate their significance for the human actor. In the first one, interaction scenarios are evaluated on the basis on video clips; in the second one, participants were asked to interact directly with the robot according to the same scenarios. The results show a preference of participants towards reciprocal engagement situations which were considered more meaningful and easier to learn. With this work, we hope to inspire design thinking to shift from discrete, procedural design mechanisms to continuous and action-driven mechanisms of social coordination when addressing the interaction between humans and systems in smart environments.

Human-centred design is based on the satisfaction of the user needs mainly related to performances, interaction, comfort, usability, accessibility, and visibility issues. However, the “real” user experience (UX) is hidden and usually difficult to detect. The paper proposes a multimodal system based on the collection of physiological and anthropometrical performance data on field and within a mixed prototyping set-up. The mixed environment makes users interact with virtual and digital items and users’ performance to be capture and digitalized, simulating human-machine interaction, while physiological and anthropometrical data collection allows to objectify the users’ physical and mental workload during task execution. Such a system has been applied to an industrial case study focusing on agricultural machinery driving and control to support the definition of a new cabin and its control board, in terms of seat features, commands’ positioning and grouping, and positioning of additional devices.

The possibilities of employing mobile health (mhealth) devices for the purpose of self-quantification and fitness tracking are increasing, yet few users of online mhealth services possess proven knowledge of how their personal data are processed once the data have been disclosed. Ex post transparency-enhancing tools (TETs) can provide such insight and guide users in making informed decisions with respect to intervening with the processing of their personal data. At present, however, there are no suitable guidelines that aid designers of TETs in implementing privacy notifications that reflect their recipients’ needs in terms of what they want to be notified about and the level of guidance required to audit their data effectively. Based on an analysis of gaps related to TETs, the findings of a study on privacy notification preferences, and the findings on notifications and privacy notices discussed in the literature, this paper proposes a set of guidelines for the human-centred design of privacy notifications that facilitate ex post transparency. Artikeln ingick som manuskript i Murmanns (2019) licentiatuppsats Towards Usable Transparency via Individualisation.

Copyright © The Author(s) 2018. Older adults, due to their changing physical and cognitive abilities, might still be challenged by understanding and adopting smart technologies. In line with such research enquiry, ‘metaphors’ and ‘analogies’, powerful learning tools for written and verbal communication, have been investigated as ‘non-linguistic’ tools, when embedded into product shapes and features, to facilitate the users’ understanding of products functionalities. In this study, analogies and metaphors are physically ‘embodied’ into products’ design through the adoption of Smart Materials (SMs). A novel device was designed to explore such approach using four different SMs families to evaluate which design would be more intuitive for two group of users in a comparative, exploratory study. Findings reveal that embodied SMs help considerably in the mitigation of age-related differences and in the understanding of technologies due to facilitated retrieving of older adults’ prior knowledge. This, in return, may increase the chance of technology adoption among ageing users.

Educators of all sectors are learning designers, often unwittingly. To succeed as designers, they need to adopt a design mindset and acquire the skills needed to address the design challenges they encounter in their everyday practice. Human-centred design (HCD) provides professional designers with the methods needed to address complex problems. It emphasizes the human perspective throughout the design lifecycle and provides a practice-oriented approach, which naturally fits educators’ realities. This research reports the experiences of educators who used HCD to design ICT-based learning activities. A mixed-methods approach was used to gauge how participating educators experienced the design tasks. The perceived level of difficulty and value of the various methods varied, revealing significant differences between educators according to their level of knowledge of pedagogy frameworks. We discuss our findings from the vantage point of educators’ pedagogical beliefs and how experience shapes these. The results support the idea that HCD is a valuable framework for educators, one that may inform ongoing international efforts to shape a science and practice of learning design for teaching. This work has been partially supported by MDM-2015- 0502, TIN2014-53199-C3-3-R, TIN2017-85179-C3-3-R, RecerCaixa (CoT).

To improve and innovate education, a novel conception of the role of design in this realm is needed. Human-centered design (HCD), a problem-solving framework underpinned by the user perspective in all stages of the process, provides professional designers with a mindset and a toolbox that includes both process and methods. HCD is multidisciplinary by default and also practice-oriented, context-aware, empathetic and incremental. As such it naturally fits both the design for learning and many of educators’ everyday realities. We apply this conception in the context of technology-enhanced learning with the conceptualisation and implementation of a genuine intervention for the design of ICT-mediated learning activities. Following the Activity-Centred Analysis and Design (ACAD) model, the contributions of this dissertation 1) cover the epistemic, social and set design dimensions of a teacher training activity for educators; 2) inform the incorporation of HCD in education; and 3) provide interdisciplinary learnings for research as well as practice. These contributions have been reported in a set of papers which are compiled in this dissertation together with an introductory kappa. The kappa frames and summaries the contributions, and closes with a proposal on how HCD could contribute to empower educators as designers and facilitate the much interdisciplinary collaboration between education, technology and design. Facilitar la millora i la innovació docent, requereix d'una nova concepció del rol del disseny aplicat en l'educació. El disseny centrat en les persones (DCU) és una aproximació a la resolució de problemes que inclou la perspectiva dels usuaris en totes les etapes del procés i ofereix als dissenyadors professionals un model mental i els intruments necessaris per aplicar aquest procés i els seus mètodes. El DCU és multidisciplinar per defecte, està orientat a la pràctica, pren consciència del context d’ús, i és empàtic i incremental. Així doncs encaixa de forma natural en el disseny de l’aprenentatge i en la realitat diària del professorat. L'objectiu és aplicar aquesta concepció al disseny de l’aprenentatge mediat per la tecnologia conceptualitzant i implementant una intervenció genuïna per al disseny d’activitats d’aprenentatge que usin les TIC. Seguint el model d’Anàlisi i Disseny Centrat en l’Activitat (ACAD, en anglès), les contribucions d’aquesta dissertació 1) cobreixen les dimensions epistèmica, social i d’eines per al disseny d’una activitat de formació del professorat, 2) informen sobre la incorporació del DCU en educació; i 3) aporten aprenentatges rellevants tant per la recerca com per la pràctica de diferents disciplines. Aquestes contribucions han estat reportades en un conjunt d’articles compilats després de la kappa introductòria. La kappa emmarca i resumeix les contribucions i finalitza amb una proposta sobre com el DCU podria contribuir a apoderar els educadors en tant que dissenyadores i facilitar, d'aquesta manera, la tant necessària col·laboració interdisciplànaria entre educació, tecnologia i disseny.

A methodology with the objective of evaluating the aesthetics and ergonomics of virtual reality glasses is presented. Many developers apply best practices taking into account hardware features, physiological considerations and interactive patterns that provide a safe and comfortable user experience. Usually, the user tests a virtual reality application in laboratory conditions. In this work, authors are paying attention to the first time that a user tries virtual reality glasses. In this initial phase, it is necessary to analyse the first impression considering the comfort of glasses on the face and head of the user. Using ergonomics principles, this work shows the creation of heuristics inside a guideline with the aim of improving the design of low-cost virtual reality glasses.

Driving a car is a high cognitive-load task requiring full attention behind the wheel. Intelligent navigation, transportation, and in-vehicle interfaces have introduced a safer and less demanding driving experience. However, there is still a gap for the existing interaction systems to satisfy the requirements of actual user experience. Hand gesture as an interaction medium, is natural and less visually demanding while driving. This paper aims to conduct a user-study with 79 participants to validate mid-air gestures for 18 major in-vehicle secondary tasks. We have demonstrated a detailed analysis on 900 mid-air gestures investigating preferences of gestures for in-vehicle tasks, their physical affordance, and driving errors. The outcomes demonstrate that employment of mid-air gestures reduces driving errors by up to 50% compared to traditional air-conditioning control. Results can be used for the development of vision-based in-vehicle gestural interfaces. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

This article describes the user-centred development of play scenarios for robot assisted play, as part of the multidisciplinary IROMEC project that develops a novel robotic toy for children with special needs. The project investigates how robotic toys can become social mediators, encouraging children with special needs to discover a range of play styles, from solitary to collaborative play (with peers, carers/teachers, parents, etc.). This article explains the developmental process of constructing relevant play scenarios for children with different special needs. Results are presented from consultation with panel of experts (therapists, teachers, parents) who advised on the play needs for the various target user groups and who helped investigate how robotic toys could be used as a play tool to assist in the children's development. Examples from experimental investigations are provided which have informed the development of scenarios throughout the design process. We conclude by pointing out the potential benefit of this work to a variety of research projects and applications involving human-robot interactions.

International audience; This paper presents a human-centred design approach for developing Decision Support Systems (DSS) based on a Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) process. The KDD process generates a set of software modules. Our approach is based on a critical study of design methods. It uses the Unified Process (UP), which proposes a general framework; however, the UP does not include enough Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) elements. We suggest enriching the UP activities from the HCI perspective, adding HCI elements. The proposed approach is applied to a KDD-based Dynamic Medical DSS.; Cet article présente une approche de conception centrée utilisateur pour le développement d’un systéme interactif d’aide à la décision (SIAD) basé sur un processus d’extraction de connaissances à partir de données (ECD). Le processus d’ECD aide généralement à générer un ensemble de modules logiciels. Notre approche est basée sur une étude critique des méthodes de conception. Elle utilise le Processus Unifié (PU), qui offre un cadre méthodologique générique. Néanmoins, le PU n’intégre pas assez d’éléments d’Interaction Homme-Machine (IHM). Nous proposons d’enrichir les activités du PU sous l’angle des IHM. L’approche proposée est appliquée à un Système Interactif d’Aide à la Décision Dynamique (SIADD) basé sur l’ECD.

We-centric services are meant to stimulate and facilitate people to communicate and cooperate with others in dynamic or ad-hoc groups. Typically, a we-centric service provides hints and reasons to contact others, and, because these other people receive similar hints and reasons, stimulates and facilitates people to experience "we". The paper describes the development and evaluation of one we-centric service prototype for police officers. We found that key-issues related to developing we-centric services are (1) finding the proper context elements and information sources to take into account when searching for relevant others, (2) presenting the people found and the context of those people in an appropriate way, i.e. with clear explanations and information on their current availability and (3) supporting reciprocal relationships. © 2008 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

We-centric services are meant to stimulate and facilitate people to communicate and cooperate with others in dynamic or ad-hoc groups. Typically, a we-centric service provides hints and reasons to contact others, and, because these other people receive similar hints and reasons, stimulates and facilitates people to experience "we". The paper describes the development and evaluation of one we-centric service prototype for police officers. We found that key-issues related to developing we-centric services are (1) finding the proper context elements and information sources to take into account when searching for relevant others, (2) presenting the people found and the context of those people in an appropriate way, i.e. with clear explanations and information on their current availability and (3) supporting reciprocal relationships. © 2008 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Connected health devices are generally designed for unsupervised use, by non-healthcare professionals, facilitating independent control of the individuals own healthcare. Older adults are major users of such devices and are a population significantly increasing in size. This group presents challenges due to the wide spectrum of capabilities and attitudes towards technology. The fit between capabilities of the user and demands of the device can be optimised in a process called Human Centred Design. Here we review examples of some connected health devices chosen by random selection, assess older adult known capabilities and attitudes and finally make analytical recommendations for design approaches and design specifications. This research was part funded by the European Project WIISEL (Wireless Insole for Independent and Safe Elderly Living) [81] which was created to decrease the incidence of falls in the older adult population. Coordinated by CETEMMSA, it is co-funded by the European Commission (FP7-ICT, Project reference: 288878) for 3 years, with 3.9 M€ budget and 8 partners from 6 different countries. peer-reviewed