Designing a Remote Communication System with and for Individuals with Cognitive Disabilities and the

1
Designing a Remote Communication System with and
for Individuals with Cognitive Disabilities and
their Caregivers

• Melissa Dawe
• Center for LifeLong Learning and Design
• University of Colorado

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Background Mobile Communication

• Remote communication through mobile devices (such
  as mobile phones) are changing the way we
  communicate, plan, and socially interact
• Mobile communication has the potential to
  increase safety, independence, and social
  connectedness
• However
• At the UI level Off-the-shelf mobile phones are
  not designed with users with cognitive
  impairments in mind
• At the socio-technical level The way people with
  cognitive disabilities communicate remotely with
  caregivers is not well understood

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Research Problem
How can we design a remote communication system
with and for individuals with cognitive
disabilities and their caregivers, in the context
of supporting safety, social connectedness, and
increased independence?
4
Conceptual Framework Participatory and
Meta-Design

• Software development is a co-creative process
  between technologists and end users
• Designers cant predict how the system will be
  used, and so end users must be empowered to act
  as designers during use time
• Socio-technical systems will and should evolve
  over time

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Methodology

• Phase 1 Formative interview study
• Interview study with 20 local parents and
  teachers of children and young adults with
  cognitive disabilities exploring AT usage, the
  technology adoption process, differences between
  school and home
• Phase 2 Focused interviews, observations
• Exploring remote communication between parent
  caregivers and clients its role in safety,
  social connect, and independence
• Phase 3 Technology design-through use field
  study
• Iterative design process with families as
  co-creators of a PDA based assistive
  communication system that evolves through use

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Phase 3 Technology Field Study

• Participants
• 4 families from Phase 2
• Designing Technological Probe
• Used by client, supports simple remote
  communication
• Initial functionality based on tasks identified
  in Phase 2
• Collects extensive usage data
• Continuing Diary Study Naturalistic
  Observations
• Parents record usage of probe, problems, ideas
• I observe clients in activities away from home
  when remote communication system may be used
• Probe Supporting Design-through-Use
• Participatory design session every four weeks,
  probe evolves uniquely for each family

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Data Collection During Use

• Textual log files maintained during use,
  including
• Power Log
• When device is turned on and off
• Battery level
• Call Log
• When a call is initiated and received (voice will
  probably not be recorded)
• Length of call
• Sender/recipient of call
• Detailed Usage Log
• Log of users sequence of actions
• When system gets into an error state
• Logs are easily downloaded from PDA onto PC

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Types of Customizations during Field Study

• Customizations include
• User interface modifications
• Functionality changes
• System should support
• Creating customizations
• Sharing customizations across users
• Backing-up customizations for easy system
  restore, upgrade

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Expected Outcomes and Contributions

• Design
• The interviews and design-in-use field-study will
  inform user interface guidelines as well as
  design methods for building assistive technology
  on mobile devices for people with cognitive
  disabilities
• System development
• This research advances our theoretical and
  practical understanding of meta-design by
  designing, building, and evaluating a system
  architecture to support the meta-design
  principles of end-user system modification at use
  time through customization and sharing
• Theoretical contributions grounded in empirical
  research
• The role of mobile communication in independence
  and safety between parental caregivers and their
  children
• The technology adoption process for individuals
  with cognitive disabilities, and the role of the
  caregiver network