Interference between propagating changes and its effect on system failure

Computer-based, socio-technical systems projects are frequently failures. In particular, computer-based information systems often fail to live up to their promise. Part of the problem lies in the uncertainty of the effect of combining the subsystems that comprise the complete system; i.e. the system's emergent behaviour cannot be predicted from a knowledge of the subsystems. This paper suggests uncertainty management is a fundamental unifying concept in analysis and design of complex systems and goes on to indicate that this is due to the co-evolutionary nature of the requirements and implementation of socio-technical systems. The paper shows a model of the propagation of a system change that indicates that the introduction of two or more changes over time can cause chaotic emergent behaviour.

Bridging technical and HCI research: Creating usable ubiquitous computing

This paper describes methods used to support collaboration and communication between practitioners, designers and engineers when designing ubiquitous computing systems. We tested methods such as “Wizard of Oz” and design games in a real domain, the dental surgery, in an attempt to create a system that is: affordable; minimally disruptive of the natural flow of work; and improves human-computer interaction. In doing so we found that such activities allowed the practitioners to be on a ‘level playing ground’ with designers and engineers. The findings we present suggest that dentists are willing to engage in detailed exploration and constructive critique of technical design possibilities if the design ideas and prototypes are presented in the context of their work practice and are of a resolution and relevance that allow them to jointly explore and question with the design time. This paper is an extension of a short paper submitted to the Participatory Design Conference, 2004.

A participatory design agenda for ubiquitous computing and multimodal interaction: A case study of dental practice

This paper reflects upon our attempts to bring a participatory design approach to design research into interfaces that better support dental practice. The project brought together design researchers, general and specialist dental practitioners, the CEO of a dental software company and, to a limited extent, dental patients. We explored the potential for deployment of speech and gesture technologies in the challenging and authentic context of dental practices. The paper describes the various motivations behind the project, the negotiation of access and the development of the participant relationships as seen from the researchers' perspectives. Conducting participatory design sessions with busy professionals demands preparation, improvisation, and clarity of purpose. The paper describes how we identified what went well and when to shift tactics. The contribution of the paper is in its description of what we learned in bringing participatory design principles to a project that spanned technical research interests, commercial objectives and placing demands upon the time of skilled professionals. Copyright © 2010 ACM, Inc