Inclusive design and anthropological methods to create technological support for societal inclusion

Abstract

Large groups in society lack the necessary skills to be sufficiently self-reliant and are in need of personal assistance. They include ageing people, people with low literacy skills, non-natives, but also children. They could all be supported by information and communication technology (ICT), but only if this technology is designed to fit their (cognitive) abilities. Inclusive design theory and methods have already been developed to support participatory design, but they should benefit more from insights of qualitative research and analysis methods developed in the field of anthropology. This allows identifying and interpreting theory-based patterns in generic user needs and human values. We present two case studies of how these methods have been applied to develop ICT for self-reliance of various target groups. By incorporating pattern descriptions in the 'situated Cognitive Engineering' framework, this knowledge becomes available for future ICT design and development processes, for other target groups and application areas. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.