Board games and regulars’ tables — Extending user centred design in the mobia project

Abstract

To allow persons with mobility issues to remain mobile, the three-year project Mobia set out to develop a technology-supported human-based service within public transport: mobility guides provide a helping hand for passengers with mobility issues. The Mobia system can be positioned within the field of AAL and consists of multiple user interfaces and actors to coordinate and realise the point of service. This paper introduces two extension to the User-Centred Design methodology which were successfully applied during the course of the project. The first is the development of a large board game like demonstrator that allows for simulation of realistic scenarios within the scenario during which observation of user behaviour can take place. The second-regulars’ table-is a monthly face2face meeting between developers, passengers and mobility guides serving as a platform for exchanging experiences, testing and discussing new ideas. Results from the Mobia project are discussed.