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Inclusive Design for 3S (self-efficacy, social engagement and security)

IUALL (Interaction for Universal Access)

The objective

is to enhance the self-efficacy, social engagement and security awareness of diverse citizens in a district via interaction with personal applications and services.

More and more, (local) authorities expect citizens to take responsibility of their own lives. This means that citizens are expected to solve their own problems as much as possible, and, if necessary, to take the initiative to ask for support. Many citizens are able to meet this expectation. However, there are also groups that are not as able to meet the demands of the (information) society, for instance the elderly, children, people of low literacy and non-native citizens. If the self-efficacy, social engagement and security awareness of these groups are enhanced, they are expected to be able to function better in their district and have a better quality of life. Interaction with personal applications and services is expected to support the groups in achieving these goals. These services should address the diversity in information content, use context and users, in a sound and structured way.

In order to involve the groups in the design process, an inclusive design method should be developed. The method involves both the citizens and other stakeholders in the design process (participative design) in playful and explorative concept design sessions, and systematic interaction design and test activities. The inclusive design method should be exemplified with best practices of user-driven, scenario-based design of new, easy-to-access, services and applications. The “best practice” development should make use of and integrate market standard user interaction platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, twitter, etc.). Currently, no theory exists on how the self-efficacy, social engagement and security awareness of diverse citizens can be enhanced by mobile and virtual reality applications. As a result of this project, we will contribute to this theory.

The focus of activities is on:

  1. Developing and applying, in an iterative fashion, an inclusive design method (in the form of a software tool box), that incorporates universal accessibility guidelines and deploys interface solutions from WP2B (mobile context-aware interfaces) and WP2C (virtual social environments).
  2. Exemplifying the inclusive design method with best practices of user-driven, scenario-based design of new, easy-to-access, services and applications. We will start from a scenario in the domain of (perceived) public security, focusing on the elderly target group. Later we will extend the scenario to the other target groups and applications (mobile and virtual reality).
  3. Building up knowledge on needs, abilities, and requirements of four specific user groups (elderly, children, people of low literacy and non-native citizens) and generalizing the findings.
  4. Contributing to a theory, in an iterative fashion, on how the self-efficacy, social engagement and security awareness of diverse citizens can be enhanced by mobile and virtual reality applications.

Research Questions

  1. How can the self-efficacy, social engagement and security awareness of diverse citizens in a district be enhanced via interaction with personal applications and services?
  2. What does an inclusive design method to achieve the project objective consist of? How can the method be exemplified by best practices?
  3. What does a theory on how the self-efficacy, social engagement and security awareness of diverse citizens can be enhanced by mobile and virtual reality applications consist of?
WP Leader: