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Kitty Turner Homework 1 1.1 What did you find interesting about the article? In general, I thought the article was interesting enough that I read it several times. 1.2 What did you find not interesting about the article? Nothing. 2. What do you consider the main message of the article? For me, the main message is that participatory design is essential for developing technology to assist people with cognitive disabilities. Because the users have extremely unique and individualized needs, any technology developed without the input of the caregiver community would most likely have failed. Also the technical expertise provided by the other members of the team was necessary to create an innovative system. If only a portion of the team had participated, the system would have lacked the technical depth, the ability to combine 3D technology, GPS, and more. 3. Are themes discussed in the article which you would like to know more about? A. I would like more information about the contributions of the various participants: How do the Urban Planners fit in? What part did the technology developers play? B. I am interested in more detail about the field studies: Who participated in the field studies? I would like examples of the excursions and how these lead to the major findings. C. I would also like much more information about the prototype development: How did the team arrive at the design? What prototypes were not chosen? Why was the technology chosen? Who participated in this portion of the design? I would also like more detail about the design. 4. What did you find interesting about the CLever system? I find the varying technologies being used in the system interesting. Perhaps it is because I do not have in-depth knowledge of any of the technologies involved. I am really interested in how the technologies interact, communicate, etc. 5. Do you know of other papers, ideas, and systems which are closely related to the article and the CLever system? I do not know of any other papers because the areas of collaborative design and assistive technology are new to me. 6.1 What do the article and the associated system say about design? To design a successful and useful system, all aspects of the problem and the user must be investigated. For the CLever system, the team studied the complexities of public transportation, the cognitive requirements for using public transportation, and the abilities and limitations of users with cognitive disabilities. 6.2 What do the article and the associated system say about learning? The system being designed and implemented must take into account and enhance the learning abilities of the user. The main purpose of the technology is to extend the abilities of the user. 6.3 What do the article and the associated system say about collaboration? The depth of the team is important for the success of the design. Without the various areas of expertise, the system would have been flat and limited in usefulness. 6.4 What do the article and the associated system say about innovative media to support for these activities? Different types of innovative media can be used together to form useful and unique systems. There is no limit to what a well-designed system can accomplish because new technology development is moving so quickly. 7. Do you have any ideas how this research could/should be extended? I do not have any suggestions at the moment. |
