=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2629/7_poster_markman.pdf
|storemode=property
|title=From Workshop to Prototype: A Project about the Development of a Conference Application Based on the Use of UIM
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2629/7_poster_markman.pdf
|volume=Vol-2629
|authors=Anna Overgaard Markman
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/persuasive/Markman20
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==From Workshop to Prototype: A Project about the Development of a Conference Application Based on the Use of UIM==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2629/7_poster_markman.pdf
From Workshop to Prototype: A Project about the
Development of a Conference Application Based on the
Use of UIM
Anna Overgaard Markman1
1Aalborg University, Department of Communication and Psychology
amarkm16@student.aau.dk
Abstract. This project investigates how User Innovation Management (UIM) can
be used to organize a design process based on a request for a mobile application
for the Persuasive Technology Conference in Aalborg in 2020. Furthermore, the
target users were not yet defined, and the design process attempted to take this
into account. Therefore, other conference mobile applications were examined,
and a workshop was held in order to gain insights into the act of going to a con-
ference. As a result of an analysis, requirement specifications became the foun-
dation for making a prototype. This prototype was evaluated, and a final proto-
type was constructed. The need for information about transportation, conference
agenda, and social activities during the conference, was identified as the most
significant factors. These were included in the design by adding features that ad-
dress and support said areas..
Keywords: User Innovation Management, Workshop, Prototyping, Co-design,
User-Centered Design
1 Introduction
This project examines how a design process can be organized on the basis of the method
User Innovation Management (UIM), as it is presented by Anne Marie Kanstrup and
Pernille Bertelsen (2016). This has been done in relation to a case, where the outcome
was a design concept for an application to the 15th International Conference on Persua-
sive Technologies (Persuasive 2020 conference). One of the objectives for the confer-
ence organizer is to promote the conference and Aalborg as green regarding printing
and transportation between venues. The project lasted from March to May 2019.
When the project was made, the target users were not defined, and the design process
attempted to take this into account. Furthermore, the compiled design of the application
tries to oblige the needs of the users while these are not yet precisely determined. It can
be argued, that the act of participating in a conference is a well-known activity for some
people, and that the setting is fairly alike. It is not an activity, where people necessarily
have a shared practice beside participating in the same conference, but it is the shared
understanding and physical presence that unites them. This is called nexus of practice
Persuasive 2020, Adjunct proceedings of the 15th International conference on Persuasive
Technology. Copyright © 2020 for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Com-
mons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
2
by Scollon & Scollon (2004), which is activities where people have a shared under-
standing, but which is not a community of practice. As such, the project raises the fol-
lowing research questions:
1. How can a design process be organized on the basis of User Innovation Man-
agement in such way that the system meets the needs of unknown users?
2. How can these needs be satisfied through an application?
2 Research Method
The project is composed on the basis of UIM, which has a participatory approach to
innovation and design (Kanstrup & Bertelsen, 2016). The Design Research Map by
Sanders (2008) were used to declare the design perspective as the project aims to in-
clude potential users as co-creators of the concept, with a design-based approach.
The UIM method is divided into three themes which are 1) Cooperation, 2) Context,
and 3) Concept, and each of these have two steps. In the first step, Cooperation, the
participants were selected and a method for data collection was chosen. The participants
were researchers from multiple departments at Aalborg University, who have partici-
pated in one or several conferences. The collaboration was based on a workshop, be-
cause this method allows, among other, an inquiry into current and future needs of the
participants. The workshop was inspired by participatory workshops (Chambers,
2012), and the main focus was to compile data generated by the participants through
different activities that encourage them to be creative and elaborate on chosen topics
related to their former conference activities. Furthermore, a workshop could contribute
to establish visions for the application and its content.
In the next step, Context, insights were gathered and visions for the future were cre-
ated on behalf of the workshop. Insights into the problem area were obtained via two
different approaches, of which the first was an analysis of existing apps designed spe-
cifically for conferences. This contributed with insights into what needs these apps al-
ready try to fulfil and also contributes with inspiration to the development of the con-
cept for this application. In addition, insights were also obtained through the workshop,
from which requirement specifications were made based on an analysis of the different
codes identified in the transcript of the workshop.
In the third step, Concept, a prototype based on the before mentioned requirement
specifications was composed. According to Houde and Hill (1997), prototypes can gen-
erally be used to explore three dimensions of a system. These are 1) Role, 2) Look and
Feel, and 3) Implementation. Because the application could not be implemented before
the conference, and the main purpose for composing the prototype was to include in-
formation useful for users at the conference, this prototype was primarily used to ex-
amine the Role of the application. As such, the most important part of the prototype
was to illustrate how the application could fulfill a role for the user. However, the pro-
totype was made fully functional.
The presentation step, which is a part of concept, were not included in this project.
Instead there was added an extra step based on a model for interaction design by Preece,
Rogers and Sharp (2015), which is evaluation This has been included in the design
process to detect potential errors and omissions, which have then been regulated in a
new design. This design was then evaluated in a think-aloud test with the participants
3
of the workshop, and new requirement specifications were developed on behalf of an
analysis of the think-aloud test results.
3 Results
Requirement specifications were composed on the basis of an analysis rooted in a par-
ticipatory workshop, but also a description of the conference and needs provided by the
conference organizer. Therefore, the requirement specifications take both the users’ and
the stakeholder’s needs into consideration.
Identified requirements were divided into 1) General, 2) The Conference, 3) Social
Aspect, and 4) Way Finding in Aalborg. Each topic contains a number of requirements,
which were supplemented with the source, a priority, scope of action, and the final
action in order to fulfill the requirement. The participatory workshop provided insights
in what should be considered afterwards in the following design process, and the im-
portance of each discussed feature. The final requirements for the prototype can be seen
below:
The requirements in General are an application, less printing, application should
only be used on the conference, and tickets should be available through the appli-
cation.
The requirements related to the conference are personal calendar, notifications
when cancelled, full program, list of attendees, and abstract and papers.
The requirements that belong to the Social Aspect are possibilities for networking,
chat-function, possibilities for coordinating gatherings, and attendee-lists for the
different events.
Finally, the requirements for Way Finding in Aalborg are information about trans-
portation, direct link to ‘NT Tickets’, direct link to ‘Journey Planner’, clarify the
possibility to walk around Aalborg, a map of Aalborg, a map of the conference
buildings, and a map of less well-known landmarks in Aalborg.
In general, the requirement specifications clarified how the needs of conference at-
tendees could be addressed in an application. Additionally, it became clear how the
requirements gained from the stakeholder could be implemented. The application facil-
itates profiles for every conference attendee in order to make it possible for every at-
tendee to personalize the application, both the profile and the calendar, in which it is
possible to add the preferred events (“Personal Agenda”). The participants in the work-
shop generally experienced a lack of information regarding the opportunity to go
around town by either public transportation or walking, because they had a general wish
to explore the hosting city in which a conference takes place. Therefore, the application
values public transportation and walking by explaining how to go by bus and illustrates
different walking routes around Aalborg. This also aligns with the conference organ-
izer’s wish to promote the conference and Aalborg as green. Furthermore, the applica-
tion contains sections where it is possible for the attendees to make other, social events
and send messages.
New requirement specifications were made based on the think-aloud test conducted
by using the prototype. These requirements are based on the prototype, and therefore
4
they are divided into three topics: 1) Changes, 2) Repositioning, and 3) Additions. Gen-
erally, the requirement specifications regard labels, icons and functions which were
difficult to find, and no major adjustments were made in this process.
4 Conclusion
The project presents one of many opportunities related to organizing a design process
to ensure an application, in this paper an application for the Persuasive 2020 Confer-
ence, meets the needs of yet unknown conference attendees. UIM is a process model
for user involvement, and along with UIM, participatory workshop was used as a
method for generating insights and a general understanding for conference activities
both socially and conference related. UIM has given us a structured approach for the
design process, and it has been a way to make sure that the participants and their needs
have been at the center of the process. The work with participants as representatives of
similar potential users has given us an understanding of the challenges related to user
involvement, but it has also given us insight into the great value potential users can add
to a design process. It has been important for us to perceive the participants as expert
conference-goers, because we needed an insight in and understanding of the problems
and needs related to this.
The most important needs that have been identified based on the workshop and a
subsequent think aloud user tests are the need for information about transport, the pro-
gram, and the facilitation of social contact besides official activities during the confer-
ence. Because of this the design concept includes features such as “Transport”, “Per-
sonal Agenda”, “Other events” and “Messages”. Each of these functions are included
with the purpose of fulfilling the needs of the potential users.
It is important to emphasize the need for future iterations of the process. The appli-
cation has not yet been implemented, and therefore other insights might be necessary
to include in future research. However, the participatory workshop provided us with
valuable data and knowledge about activities we were not familiar with, and the method
might be ideal to include in another iteration.
Acknowledgements. This work is based on a project made in collaboration with Maria Chris-
tensen and Heidi Oddershede Laursen.
References
1. Chambers, R. (2012). Participatory Workshops – A Sourcebook of 21 sets of Ideas and Ac-
tivities. London: Earthscan.
2. Houde, S., & Hill, C. (1997). What do Prototypes Prototype? I: Helander, M. G., Landauer,
T. K. & Prabhu, P. V., Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction (2. udgave, s. 367–381).
Amsterdam: Elsevier.
3. Kanstrup, A. M. & Bertelsen, P. (2016). User Innovation Management - a handbook. Aal-
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4. Preece, J., Rogers, Y. & Sharp, Hx (2015). Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer
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5
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