Example - Visualization

Challenge

As a student of Interactive Media Design, we have two areas of focus to develop for the thesis that allows  you to graduate: artistic (illustrations or photograph with some kind of interaction), and interfaces (video  games, platforms). Reviewing past projects I realized zero projects connected design with medicine and  there I saw an opportunity to learn and develop something fresh. The main challenge was to support the  physical therapy of kids with muscular dystrophy, muscular dystrophy is considered as a rare disease, this  means that a low percentage of the population has it and by hence not a lot of research. As a designer, I  am used to approaching ideas considering the user’s needs (user experience and the user interface), but  I faced new challenges: 1) I am not a doctor and I was scared to not understand the kids’ needs and/or  developed something useless or harmful for them; 2) I was skeptical of working with kids because you  need to work also with parents and 3) to support physical development in the kids, I will need hardware  development and I had zero experience with it.

Selection

The tool selected is visualization. I think it will help to evidence the design process, how it flows, and what  happened in each stage. The visualization tool involved the four main stages: what is, what if, what wows,  and what works together with the tools used during this stage, how they were used, and contributed to  the design process.

Application

What is?

I needed to understand the problem so I sought help in the medicine department of my university, they  not only helped me to understand the problem but they also connected me with one of the physical  therapy institutions that treated kids with muscular dystrophy. Here I have my first contact with the kids  and their parents. I observe them and learned the dynamics inside the institution, the relationship  between doctors, parents, and kids, the way to connect with the kids, the role of the parents during  therapy time, the way doctors interact with the kids, and how each kid had different needs.

What if?

Working with the doctors, the parents, and the kids, we started developing ideas based on the kids’ needs,  but considering that the physical therapy focused on different parts of the body and that each kid presents  different needs, we decided to focus on only on the arms and hand-eye coordination skill. By narrowing  down the scope of the project we realized how relevant is to approach each kids’ needs separately and  how important is for the doctors to decide the type of physical effort the kid should handle.

What wows?

To test the ideas, I developed wizard prototypes to learn about user interaction. The prototypes helped  to evaluate if the ideas were interesting enough to keep kids’ attention, help them to improve mobility  and hand-eye coordination, and consider different methods to adapt to each kids’ needs. There were  different versions of some of the wizard prototypes to test some of the discoveries during the process.

After the tests, we decided that a whack a mole version would be the best option to support the physical  therapy of the kids.

What works?

As part of a learning process to discover how to adapt to the different needs of the kids, video games had  many versions. The whack a mole version of the video game had a control panel for doctors and parents,  so they can change the speed, frequency, and add or remove elements depending on the kids’ needs. All  these elements could contribute to the kid’s physical development, stimulation and concentration, so it  was very important to make them adaptable and give this power to doctors and parents, so they can  decide the setting of the video game depending on the status of the kids and in which way the kid should  be challenged (if he/she is ready).

Insight

Involve your stakeholders in the process and listening to them is the smartest thing you can do. They are  telling you all you need to know, you just need to develop the skills and learn how to use the right tools  to read them. Involving doctors in this project was fundamental to start. Doctors helped me to understand  the general problem and the context, very technical things; kids showed me the problem and tough me  what they need; and finally parents, they were a mix of both, because they become an empirical doctor  and they know their child, so they tough me about each kids’ needs and what works and does not work  for them. Working with my stakeholders all the process put me on the right path and trigger the right  ideas.

The test is the root co-creation. When I first think about developing a video game for my thesis, I had a  very different idea that involved 3D graphics, many objects in the screen, sounds, scores, all kinds of crazy  things. However, working first hand with the kids, the parents, and the doctors made me realize how  wrong I was. The idea I had will be useless because I was thinking of me as a user, what I would like to do,  what I think the user would like, but testing shows me I was completely wrong. I ended up doing  something that at first sight will look boring and too simple (considering the video game industry), but we  created something that added value to the kids’ development, facilitate doctors’ interaction, and could  involve the parents more in the process as they could use the video game at home too.

Approach

During the design process, testing was one of the most challenging tasks. I would like to spend more time  testing assumptions (what wows?) to develop deep knowledge about what could work better for the kids,  but due to time and budget restrictions, it was no possible. Testing more time in what wows section could  allow me to reduce the learning launch process in the what works section, I could know sooner the type  of interaction and reaction of the kids and adapt my design to them.


Example - Visualization Challenge As a student of Interactive Media Design , we have two areas of focus to develop for the thesis that allows you to graduate : artistic ( illustrations or photograph with some kind of interaction ) , and interfaces ( video games , platforms ) . Reviewing past projects I realized zero projects connected design with medicine and there I saw an opportunity to learn and develop something fresh . The main challenge was to support the physical therapy of kids with muscular dystrophy , muscular dystrophy is considered as a rare disease , this means that a low percentage of the population has it and by hence not a lot of research . As a designer , I am used to approaching ideas considering the user ’s needs ( user experience and the user interface ) , but I faced new challenges : 1 ) I am not a doctor and I was scared to not understand the kids ’ needs and/or developed something useless or harmful for them ; 2 ) I was skeptical of working with kids because you need to work also with parents and 3 ) to support physical development in the kids , I will need hardware development and I had zero experience with it . Selection The tool selected is visualization . I think it will help to evidence the design process , how it flows , and what happened in each stage . The visualization tool involved the four main stages : what is , what if , what wows , and what works together with the tools used during this stage , how they were used , and contributed to the design process . Application What is ? I needed to understand the problem so I sought help in the medicine department of my university , they not only helped me to understand the problem but they also connected me with one of the physical therapy institutions that treated kids with muscular dystrophy . Here I have my first contact with the kids and their parents . I observe them and learned the dynamics inside the institution , the relationship between doctors , parents , and kids , the way to connect with the kids , the role of the parents during therapy time , the way doctors interact with the kids , and how each kid had different needs . What if ? Working with the doctors , the parents , and the kids , we started developing ideas based on the kids ’ needs , but considering that the physical therapy focused on different parts of the body and that each kid presents different needs , we decided to focus on only on the arms and hand - eye coordination skill . By narrowing down the scope of the project we realized how relevant is to approach each kids ’ needs separately and how important is for the doctors to decide the type of physical effort the kid should handle . What wows ? To test the ideas , I developed wizard prototypes to learn about user interaction . The prototypes helped to evaluate if the ideas were interesting enough to keep kids ’ attention , help them to improve mobility and hand - eye coordination , and consider different methods to adapt to each kids ’ needs . There were different versions of some of the wizard prototypes to test some of the discoveries during the process . After the tests , we decided that a whack a mole version would be the best option to support the physical therapy of the kids . What works ? As part of a learning process to discover how to adapt to the different needs of the kids , video games had many versions . The whack a mole version of the video game had a control panel for doctors and parents , so they can change the speed , frequency , and add or remove elements depending on the kids ’ needs . All these elements could contribute to the kid ’s physical development , stimulation and concentration , so it was very important to make them adaptable and give this power to doctors and parents , so they can decide the setting of the video game depending on the status of the kids and in which way the kid should be challenged ( if he / she is ready ) . Insight Involve your stakeholders in the process and listening to them is the smartest thing you can do . They are telling you all you need to know , you just need to develop the skills and learn how to use the right tools to read them . Involving doctors in this project was fundamental to start . Doctors helped me to understand the general problem and the context , very technical things ; kids showed me the problem and tough me what they need ; and finally parents , they were a mix of both , because they become an empirical doctor and they know their child , so they tough me about each kids ’ needs and what works and does not work for them . Working with my stakeholders all the process put me on the right path and trigger the right ideas . The test is the root co - creation . When I first think about developing a video game for my thesis , I had a very different idea that involved 3D graphics , many objects in the screen , sounds , scores , all kinds of crazy things . However , working first hand with the kids , the parents , and the doctors made me realize how wrong I was . The idea I had will be useless because I was thinking of me as a user , what I would like to do , what I think the user would like , but testing shows me I was completely wrong . I ended up doing something that at first sight will look boring and too simple ( considering the video game industry ) , but we created something that added value to the kids ’ development , facilitate doctors ’ interaction , and could involve the parents more in the process as they could use the video game at home too . Approach During the design process , testing was one of the most challenging tasks . I would like to spend more time testing assumptions ( what wows ? ) to develop deep knowledge about what could work better for the kids , but due to time and budget restrictions , it was no possible . Testing more time in what wows section could allow me to reduce the learning launch process in the what works section , I could know sooner the type of interaction and reaction of the kids and adapt my design to them .