Frameworks related to Community Technology Design

3rd World Dev

Appropriate TechnologySocial EntrepreneurshipIndigenous Knowledge in Development

Lay Participation

Cooperative DesignParticipatory DesignPublic Interest Design

HCI and IT

User Centered DesignContextual DesignOpen SourceDIY, Maker Movement

User-Centered Design

We adapt technologies to people, not people to technologies

Persona

What is a typical user?

Members of the primary stakeholder group (user, consumer, audience, client) are characterized via research (observation, surveys, interviews, etc.)

The “persona” is a fictional character. Making her concrete helps the designer to“keep her needs in mind”

Sometimes the persona is a non-typical user; you want to Check the limitations of your design as well.

Scenario

A fictional story about some sequence of events with the persona.

Often helpful to include small details – what if it happens at the beach, and he has those really small pockets that come with swimsuits?

May include emotional or physical characteristics.

"best case scenario", “average scenario,” "worst case scenario",

Use case

Often visualized as “flowchart-like” but without specifics such as number of times you repeat a step

Helpful to start at overview, then systematically gain detail in each sub-unit

Not very good for representing large numbers of possible errors, contingencies, etc.