Sandpit: an organic approach to virtual participatory design (SEEDS)

人们越来越认识到，虽然社会上很大一部分人受益于新兴的数字技术，但仍有相当一部分人没有受益。例如，英国政府在其2008年10月的咨询行动计划（实现数字包容）中指出，数字排斥是一个日益紧迫的社会问题。该报告的摘要断言，数字技术渗透到现代生活的方方面面，但例如，英国有1700万人不使用电脑和互联网，数字与社会排斥之间存在很强的相关性。因此，很大一部分人口无法享受到使用数字技术带来的好处和机会。此外，报告认识到，为公民和社区更好地利用技术，包括改善服务，更好地满足弱势群体和个人的需求，存在大量尚未开发的机会。由于无法使用新兴数字技术，越来越多的人落在了后面，限制了他们在工作、娱乐、通信、运输服务和医疗保健等各种领域的机会。新技术的发展往往没有考虑到不参与的用户的需要，这一事实使问题更加复杂。邓迪包容性网络最近向数字包容部长提出的建议建议：“需要更加关注被数字排斥者中尚未开发的创造力和创新。”数字经济可以提供利用这一点的方法，并通过促进归属感/社会凝聚力来造福社会。政府必须理解为什么公民选择或不选择使用和学习使用一项技术或数字资源。例如，很大一部分老年人想要学习如何做一件具体的事情，而不是简单地使用互联网。他们的兴趣是由意识到一项对他们有利的特定技术引起的。这项研究的长期目标是更好地了解数字经济中被社会排斥的人的需求，并开发出对这些人群的需求和愿望敏感的范例界面和交互技术。该项目是一项可行性研究，旨在确定让被数字经济排斥的个人参与数字经济的新方法。目标是塑造技术和服务，以满足他们的特殊需求和环境，并帮助教育年轻设计师如何在设计过程中最好地融入残疾人和老年人的需求。我们打算利用数字技术创造一个虚拟的环境，在这个环境中，个人的故事可以被捕捉到，并提供给一系列的设计师（这里的设计师指的是设计专业的学生和其他解决问题的人），以便他们可以提出设计回应，以满足从故事中出现的需求、愿望和愿望。我们提出了一项可行性研究，其中我们将定义一种方法，并将其应用于来自两个社区的代表，这两个社区经常被报道为被数字排斥：老年用户和有学习障碍的人。我们提出了一种用户推送的方法。目标将是赋予公民参与制定自己的解决方案的权利，这些解决方案将有助于激励他们融入数字经济，并发现可能促进采用数字技术的激励因素。该项目所面临的研究挑战体现在以下问题上：-如果人们参与到数字活动中，他们目前不能做的事情是什么？-参与科技的动机是什么？-如何将不参与的人、设计师和其他相关方聚集在一起，创造解决个人需求的解决方案？

There is growing recognition that, while large portions of society are benefitting from emerging digital technologies, a substantial minority is not. For example, the UK Government, in its October 2008 Action Plan for Consultation (Delivering Digital Inclusion), argued that digital exclusion is an increasingly urgent social problem. The report's summary asserted that digital technologies pervade every aspect of modern life but, for example, 17 million people in the UK do not use computers and the Internet, and there is a strong correlation between digital and social exclusion. As a result, a substantial proportion of the population does not enjoy the benefits and opportunities that come through the use of digital technologies. Furthermore, the report recognises that there are significant and untapped opportunities to use technology better on behalf of citizens and communities, including improved services that better address the needs of disadvantaged groups and individuals. Inability to use emerging digital technologies is leaving more and more people behind, limiting their opportunities in areas as diverse as work, entertainment, communication, transport services, and healthcare. This problem is compounded by the fact that developments of new technologies do not tend to be developed with the needs of disengaged users in mind. Recent recommendations to the Digital Inclusion Minister from the Dundee inclusion network suggested, A greater focus needs to be given to the untapped creativity and innovation among the digitally excluded. The digital economy could provide ways of exploiting this and benefit society by promoting a sense of belonging/social cohesion. Government must understand why citizens chose or do not chose to use and learn to use a piece of technology or digital resource. For example, a large percentage of older people want to learn how to do one specific thing, rather than simply to use the internet . Their interest is triggered by becoming aware of a particular piece of technology which would benefit them. The long term goal of this research is to gain a better understanding of the needs of socially excluded people within the Digital Economy and to develop exemplar interfaces and interaction techniques designed to be sensitive to the needs and wants of these groups of people. This project is a feasibility study to determine new methods of engaging digitally excluded individuals in the Digital Economy. The goal is to shape technology and services to meet their particular needs and circumstances and help educate young designers how best to incorporate disabled and older people's needs in the design process. We intend to exploit digital technologies to create a virtual environment in which individuals' stories can be captured and made available to a range of designers (by designers we mean both design students and other problem solvers) in order that they might propose design responses to meet the needs, wants and aspirations that emerge from the stories. We propose a feasibility study where we will define a methodology and apply it with representatives from two communities that are often reported as being digitally excluded: older users and people with learning disabilities. We are proposing a user-push methodology. The goal will be both to empower citizens to participate in developing their own solutions that will serve to motivate their inclusion in the Digital Economy and to uncover motivational factors that could facilitate adoption of digital technologies. The research challenges being addressed in the project are embodied by the following questions:- What can't people currently do which they would do if they were digitally engaged?- What is the motivation for engaging with technology?- How might the disengaged, designers, and other interested parties be brought together to create solutions that address the needs of individuals?