Living Labs
University of Oslo
Institute of informatics, INF 2260
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF
Agenda
•
Limitations of usability testing
•
Users as sources of creativity
•
Living Labs and the co-creative user
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
2
Limitations of usability testing
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
3
http://www.infodesign.com.au
Are there limitations to the
usefulness of this approach?
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
4
Usability testing
The design right
vs.
The right design
pp. 381-391
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
5
Usability testing harmful?
Early stage
design
Mute creative ideas
Radical
innovations
Identify problems due to
immature technology
rather than the
underlying concept
Cultural
changes
Dismiss concept due to
lack of accept in current
culture
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
6
Creative input appreciated in
system development, but
usability testing typically give
problem lists
Usability problems often known (?)
… but helps prioritizing
Redesign suggestions
… spark creativity
… and provide new ideas to solve
known problems.
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
7
Know the limitations
of usability testing
and employ it
accordingly.
How to overcome the
limitations of usability
testing?
Consider other approaches
to get creative input
-> Maybe users can provide
creative input?
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
8
Users as sources of creativity
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
9
Users creative? Really?
Foto: michelhrv (Flickr, creative commons)
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
10
Users creative? Really?
Users didn’t create this
… or this
… or this
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
11
In which ways
can users
contibute
creatively?
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
12
Users as sources of creativity (1): Participatory design
Participation as a democratic right
Users contribute unique insight
and knowledge in design due to
domain experience
User involved in creative processes
with designers and stakeholders
Assumption: Tight cooperation
between designers, users and
stakeholders will improve process
and outcome.
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
13
Users as sources of creativity (2): Social construction of tech.
Technology outside a social context is
ambiguous, in particular before it has
reached wide spread use.
Innovation happens when social groups
gives meaning to technological artifacts
Evolving meanings given to artifacts can
be used to drive innovation processes
Assumption: Observation of social
groups using new technology will give
insight in ways to develop the
technology.
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
Pinch, T.J. and Bijker, W.E. (1987) The social
construction of facts and artifacts.
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Users as sources of creativity (3): User innovation
Von Hippel: Users innovate; in
particular leading users
- excellent in their field
- not satisfied with available technology
Examples from a range of fields
- Open source software
- Printed circut boards
- Surgery tools
- Extreme sports
Assumption: Incorporating user
innovation in the innovation process
will lead to more radical innovations
Von Hippel, E. (2005) Democratizing innovation, MIT Press
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
15
Users as source of creativity
Participatory design
Users and designers in cocreative processes
Social construction of
technology
Novel meanings and uses emerge
in social groups over time
User innovation
Users adapt designs and develop
new when current solutions
does not fill their needs
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
16
Living Labs and the cocreative user
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
17
Living Labs – the idea
ant-farms.com
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
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Living Labs – the idea
Amazon.com: Fascinations AntWorks Illuminated Blue
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
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Living Labs – the idea
What if we do the same with humans?
•
•
Identify users in their everyday context
Add new technology / future technology
We could …
•
•
•
Observe what happens (Social
construction)
Identify those who adapt the technology to
better suit their needs (User innovation)
Invite users in co-creative processes to
devlop the technology further
(Participatory design)
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
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Living Labs – the basics
Environments for innovation and development
-
… where users are exposet to new solutions
… in familiar contexts
… as part of medium – or long term studies
New term within the field of ICT
-
Emerging concept
Limited literature
Innovation support
Context research
Discovery <- Social construction and user innovation
Co-creation <- Grounded in participatory design
Evaluation
Technical testing
Commercially
available product
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
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The origins: Ubiquitous computing Living Labs
Classroom 2000: an ICT
augmented classroom
Vision: Utilize lecture &
teacher/student notetaking
outside classroom
Purposes:
- Discovery
- Evaluation
Abowd, G.D. (1999) Classroom 2000: An experiment with the
instrumentation of a living educational environment. IBM Systems
Journal, 38(4), pp. 508-530.
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
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The detour: Living Labs as testbeds
eStadium: Stadium instrumehted
with advanced wireless
infrastructure
Aim: Research advanced
networking and services
Purposes:
- Evaluation
- Technical testing
Zhong, X., Coyle, E.J. (2006) eStadium: a Wireless "Living Lab" for
Safety and Infotainment Applications. First International Conference
on Communications and Networking in China, 2006. ChinaCom '06,
pp. 1-6, IEEE.
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
23
The current: Living Labs as innovation platforms
The European wave of Living Labs
Public-private partnerships
- Government
- Industry
- Academia
User and stakeholders seen as cocreators; that is, creative resources to be
utilized in the innovation process
Aim for direct contributions of users and
stakeholders throughout the innovation
process
http://www.openlivinglabs.eu/
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
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The current: Living Labs as innovation platforms
Copenhagen Living Lab: IABIS
Aim: Create ICT solutions to
improve living for elderly and
employed at nursing homes
Involved users:
- Employees at two nursing homes
- (Family of residents at the same
nursing homes)
- Also: Observation of residents and
employees
Users/stakeholders involved in:
- Context research
- Discovery
- Co-creation
- Evaluation
31.10.2011
http://www.iabis.dk/
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
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The current: Living Labs as innovation platforms
Botnia Living Lab: Apollon
Aim: Gain experience with inhome use of energy saving ICT.
Involved users:
-30-40 households installing prototype
energy saving ICT and use it for several
months.
Users/stakeholders involved in:
- Discovery
- Co-creation
- Evaluation
31.10.2011
http://saberproject.kyab.se//
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
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Summary
Limitations of usability testing
-
Does not help you get the right design
Creative users?
-
Participatory design
Social construction of technology
User innovation
Living Labs
-
European Living Labs aiming for co-creation; users and stakeholders to be involved
as creative resources
Evolving approach – still in its early years
31.10.2011
Asbjørn Følstad, SINTEF | [email protected]
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