By: Louise Hallström – Imec-SMIT
In the ever-evolving landscape of digital technology, it is important that innovations truly meet the needs of the users. This is why Human-Centred Design (HCD) takes center stage within the PRESENCE project. In actively involving stakeholders across use cases throughout the development process, technologies can be created that can better integrate into the daily lives of users, at the same time enhancing the user experience. At Imec-SMIT, we are committed to placing the users at the heart of innovation, which our role as coordinators of the HCD approach underscores. In this blog post, we will delve into what the HCD approach is, how it is applied within PRESENCE, and the methodologies we will employ to ensure that the needs of the users are central to the development of the PRESENCE technology.
The HCD approach in the PRESENCE project
To ensure that the developed solutions align with the users’ needs and how they use it in their daily lives, stakeholders will be invited to participate in co-creation and co-design sessions to better involve them in the design process. By doing this, we can better understand the needs, capabilities, limitations, and goals of the users, create products or technology to meet these identified needs of the users, as well as evaluate the product or technology in an iterative and continuous manner together with users to improve or refine it.
In this project, the ISO 9241-210 standard of HCD will be used, which provides requirements and recommendations for how HCD principles and activities should be applied throughout the lifecycle of computer-based interactive systems. The enhancement of product usability is a main objective of HCD, where the maximizing of user satisfaction will lead to improvements in safety performance of the device being developed. This standard highlights four key phases:
- Identification of user needs and context of use: Understand who the users and what their needs are, as well as the context in which the technology will be used.
- Specify user requirements: Defining what it is that the users want or need the technology to do for them.
- Creation of design solutions: Develop design solutions that meet the specified user requirements.
- Evaluation of designs: Test the designs with users and improve them based on user feedback.
A key element is that these phases are done iteratively, to ensure a continuous improvement of a product or technology in alignment with the needs of the users.
Integrated in the HCD approach, we will use a Mixed Method Research (MMR) design to gather and prioritise requirements and for evaluation, combining qualitative methods (such as co-creation workshops and interviews) with quantitative methods (such as surveys). However, a qualitative approach will mainly be used, in which co-creation and co-design sessions will be conducted to better gain insights and understanding into users’ practices, needs, values, attitudes and behaviors. This way, we can gather rich and detailed insights while at the same time ensuring a broader applicability of our findings and feedback gathered. In particular, we will be using an Exploratory Sequential design, to explore the ways in which the PRESENCE technology can be developed and improved based on user feedback. Our main goals in using a HCD approach is to through co-creation activities understand current practices and user needs, ensuring that ethical design and privacy concerns are met, and in UX and presence evaluation activities ensure usability by different stakeholders and ensuring increased sense of presence in virtual environments.
Testing activities in the PRESENCE project
There are different types of testing or evaluation methods that we will use in the PRESENCE project, namely, usability, UX tests, presence evaluation experiments, system ethics and trust assessment, and assessment of trustworthiness and robustness of AI. All of these activities will be carried out in coordinated efforts with Universität Hamburg (UHAM) and Universitat de Barcelona (UB).
- Usability and UX testing will focus on developers, professional users and end users to ensure a comprehensive understanding of user interactions. Here, methods or tools like SUS, AttrakDiff 2, UEQ, and TAM2, alongside open-ended questions, focus groups, and performance metrics, will be used to evaluate these aspects.
- The presence evaluation involves understanding how users perceive their immersion and interaction within the virtual environments that are created by our technologies. This will be done through methods such as multimodal matching, sentiment analysis, and EEG eye tracking.
- The system ethics and trust assessment is aimed to identify gender, ethical, trust and privacy related issues to guide the creation of PRESENCE technologies. These assessment activities will be conducted in combination with user requirement gathering activities to better understand how users feel about a given technological change in their lives, how users expect to interact with the technology and system, and what the users’ goals are in using the PRESENCE technology.
- Trustworthiness and ethical assessments will ensure that AI systems are aligned with societal values, focusing on aspects such as human agency, technical robustness, privacy, transparency, and fairness, while also conducting bias analysis to ensure accuracy and fairness in AI components.
Expected outcomes of research
By applying HCD principles, we anticipate that the PRESENCE technology will significantly improve user satisfaction and engagement, and that it will be intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable for daily use among users, as well as answer user needs without compromising on privacy and ethics. Through continuous testing and iterative development, the usability of the technology will be refined and improved which will result in enhanced user experience and user satisfaction. In co-creation and co-design sessions, stakeholders and the targeted user groups are put at the center, and here their input is expected to produce design solutions that are both innovative and practical. Our mixed-method research approach will also provide deep insights into user behaviors, needs, and preferences, which will further inform technological development and innovation. This, in combination with system ethics and trust and AI robustness assessments, and the ensuring of trustworthy and ethically sound technology, is expected to improve not only the user experience but also the safety and performance of the devices and technology developed in the project, which is particularly critical in use cases like medical and training applications.
About Imec-SMIT
At Imec-SMIT, we aim to shape the future of digital media, communication, and technology through innovative and interdisciplinary research and collaboration. In conducting user research, our aim is to optimize user experiences, promote the adoption of innovations, and ensure gender balance in the recruiting and setting up of testing environments. As a core partner in the PRESENCE project, we spearhead the HCD methodology, ensuring that stakeholders have a voice throughout the development-cycle.
Our role in the project includes coordinating a wide range of evaluation activities and maintaining high ethical standards throughout the project’s duration. We engage stakeholders across use cases, to facilitate the design, ethical assessment, and evaluation of both technical components and the overall concept of presence. Through the application of HCD and MMR methodologies, we aim to make sure that the technologies developed within the PRESENCE project meet the needs of all stakeholders involved. Stay tuned for updates as we progress through this exciting journey with the PRESENCE project!
