Paper Reading #1 : HCI methods for including adults with disabilities in the design of CHAMPION

Comment 1: http://chiblog.sjmorrow.com/2011/01/reading-1-hci-methods-for-including.html
Comment 2: http://chi-jacob.blogspot.com/2011/01/paper-reading-1-hci-methods-for.html

HCI Methods for Including Adults with Disabilities in the Design of CHAMPION
Suzanne Prior School of Computing, University of Dundee 
CHI Confrence on Human Factors in Computing Systems

As demand for computer programs increases there will also be an increase in users with Complex Communication Needs (CCN), as this demand increases program designers will need to modify their traditional desgin methods in order to include users with CCN. The CHAMPION project is working to make this possible by working with users with CCN to involve them in software development to make computers more accessible to a wide variety of users in the workplace. This paper covered a workshop done that included users with CCN to develop a new piece of software to enable them to more efficiently share important personal information with doctors and hospital staff.

The study involved 6 users 3 male and 3 female who have had only limited computer experience and had never been involved in the creation of a computer program before. The study was broken up into 2 parts, the first of which the group got together and with the aid of moderators went through the CHAMPION process and created a storyboard of how the program should look and how the users would interact with the program. The users were required to give their input at each stage with how it should look and what kind of interaction would be preferred by the user. The second meeting was done a week later when the moderators provided users with paper mock ups of what each screen might look like. This later then moved onto a medium-level computer program that could be accessed by Clicker5 (a writing/multimedia support tool) to navigate the program and then provide feedback about their experience using the software.

The users then met again to discuss in a group their individual experiences using the software as well as their feelings about the design process. While the users had some disagreement about how much assistance they would need at some points of using the program they did agree that the design process of first having a paper mock-up and then being transitioned into a computer program made them more comfortable and gave them a stronger feeling that they had control to modify the program. Users also seemed to respond well to using Clicker 5 as they felt it allowed them to see their ideas progress.

The paper ends by stating goals and contributions that the study has on HCI. It calls for increased understanding of how patients with CCN perceive and use computer programs and wants to generate more focus on including users in the development of computer software. Ms. Prior calls for increased awareness of the user in design for not only technology for CCN users but for users in general.


The paper to me is a very interesting point that I agree is very overlooked. Having known many friends and other associates who have worked with CCN and special needs children it is something I had considered before but had not ever been brought up in any computer class. This is an interesting concept as technology is becoming more readily available one would assume that this kind of technology would be needed more. I think that the study done here is good, I don't want to say that I'd fault it in any way but there is no mention of multiple trials or groups participating in this kind of study. I would be curious to see if other groups reacted similarly to this or if there might be other issues that arise with this sort of design process. If the work were to go forward I think the basic idea of including CCN users into the design process is shown here well, however I believe there would need to be more trials in order to determine more efficiently how to incorporate these users into the design process. This makes me very curious as to the idea of including CCN users into the design of new versions of software that are used daily (Such as Microsoft Word or Excel). I believe it is a good fundamental concept but with just a single study in the paper and no hands on experience it leaves me with questions as to the efficiency of this kind of design.