Scenario Solving

4.4.1 Scenario 1: Empowering the Coach for Skill Maximization Scenario 1, as depicted in figure 12, outlines a case were Dick has the intention to get the most out of his capabilities as a coach by being able to instruct his team in an intelligible manner. Right from the start, it was clear to all par- ticipants that creating a louder sound system would not provide a solution to this problem. After all, the central issue is intelligibility and in case of SMA, this is primarily hindered by slurred speech rather than audibility. Moreover, one of the co-designers stated;“Increasing the volume often causes more severe distortions due to noise.” In this stage, the co-designers’ main findings sug- gested that focusing on a visual language, consisting of colors, smileys, or other symbols, could potentially solve the problem. However, they clearly expressed that the visual language would not be a stand-alone; it would be a supportive mechanism. One of the co-designers stated;“It could make the communication (between coach and team) more effective; if all players know which (strategic) meaning is conveyed in a certain color or smiley, the auditory aspects become less significant.” An example of such a visual syntax is to use the color red to indicate that the hockey team should align in an attack position. To con- clude these results, the co-designers identified the efficacy of a visual syntax as much information can be transmitted with a minimum quantity of verbal communication.

4.4.2 Scenario 2: Feeling a Sense of Equality as a Presenter

Scenario 2, as depicted in appendix B.1, outlines a case where the Dick is deter- mined to communicate like any other individual; not experiencing the confusion arisen amongst the audience due to slurred speech caused by SMA. It was no- ticeable that the outputs generated in scenario 1 served as an input for scenario 2. Once again, the participants addressed the redundancy of focusing on sound amplification. Consequently, they argued that it could be helpful to bring the audio closer to the audience by implementing the concept of a silent disco. The idea is to give all attendees a personal headset, such that it becomes redundant to turn up the volume and thus avoid distortions due to noise amplifications.

Another recurring concept from scenario 1 is the use of visual cues. The designers pointed out that providing a context, for instance by using slides, could enhance the comprehensibility of a presentation significantly. Despite the low- fidelity nature of this solution, the underlying working principle triggered more sophisticated solutions. One of these concepts was to develop a smart system which converts keywords spoken by the presenter to a contextually relevant image as a real-time visual support mechanism.

During the discussion of this scenario, the other co-designers found out that Dick experiences difficulties in expressing his emotions. Consequently, it had become one of the focal design requirements in this stage. In addition to that, the smileys mentioned in the previous scenario were said to be an explicit trig- ger for diving into the emotion delivery aspects of meta-communication; “To

build further upon the use of smileys, an animated character could display the emotions that Dick would like to express.” All in all, it appears that aspects of meta-communication continue to be relevant to take into account in the devel- opment of a solution.

4.4.3 Scenario 3: Omitting Human Mediation for Time Efficiency Scenario 3, as depicted in appendix B.2, outlines a future case where Dick has succeeded in communicating directly in an autonomous fashion. The question posed here regards what has enabled him to communicate with more ease, and thus more time efficiently. Time efficiency served as a strong trigger for all participants, as all of them focused on speeding up the communication process. As of now, Dick uses a joystick which he controls with his mouth to navigate through messaging applications. However, he is required to hover across all separate keys one-by-one in order to generate messages. The use of eye track- ing was mentioned as a potential solution; if Dick were able to select letters by simply looking at them, typing would become less laborious. Additionally, combined with predictive texts it could speed up the procedure significantly.

Omission of human mediation has also served as a prominent design require- ment. Instead, some co-designers suggested to make use of technological medi- ation. With the aid of machine learning, a speech processing system could be tailored to recognize Dick’s vocabulary. Then, an intelligent agent could syn- thesize intelligible phrases. It is noticeable how technologically advanced the solutions are in this future-oriented scenario. It could be argued that the use of narrative futuring unwinds designers to think beyond low-fidelity solutions.

4.5

Scenario Co-Construction: The Final Concept

During this final co-design session phase, the rich contextual understanding and variety of previously developed solutions converged towards a final concept. Scenario 2, the presentation context, formed the main framework during this procedure. The paths of equality and autonomy were chosen to develop a so- lution. Figure 23 shows how co-designers actively used the scenario canvas to proceed in their design process.

The co-designers who were paired with Dick commenced the design process by discussing factors that had been identified in earlier phases, such as loudness, emotion, and accessibility. The concept of accessibility served as the primary trigger for the final concept. A distinction was made between physical and social accessibility. The latter was explored in more detail, resulting in the emergence of Dick’s difficulties associated with having conversations. The participants identified 3 aspects to consider.

1. The social barriers which Dick experiences are correlated to the number of people present; he experiences lower levels of social accessibility amidst of large groups of people.

2. Being assertive and taking the first step in having a conversation is some- what difficult for Dick.

3. Dick attributes a lot of value to correctly informing his conversation part- ners and audiences on his condition.

Figure 23: Active usage of the scenario canvas to explore different value paths. To facilitate for knowledge on Dick’s condition, the idea of creating a short introduction video came to be. Through this video, the audience will be in- troduced to Dick. Consequently, they will be able to familiarize with the SMA context. By putting an emphasis on the various activities he is occupied with, the viewers will realize that being diagnosed with SMA does not imply passivity. Therefore, the introduction video has the potential to deliver a correct portrayal of how Dick copes with SMA.

Another benefit is that such a video may support overcoming the rough start of a presentation. In fact, the co-designers even expressed that a smooth pro- gression may speed up the process as a whole. The latter is associated with higher efficacy of speech. Furthermore, by including a short introduction to the presentation content as well, the audience will be exposed to the context beforehand. As mentioned by the co-designers in prior phases, the exposure to contextual information could enhance the comprehensibility of slurred speech, as the context triggers have the potential to support deduction. Various studies suggest that contextualization improves comprehension in both listening and reading (Jung, 2006; Lysaker & Nie, 2017; Lin, 2018). However, these studies do not regard the measure of comprehension within the frame of intelligibility

deficits; they do not evaluate whether contextualization cues enhance the com- prehensibility in case of flawed speech. Hypothetically, the assumed increment in comprehensibility would enable Dick to communicate directly with the au- dience in a more convenient manner; similar to presenters who do not suffer from SMA. Thus, it is cautiously assumed that the introduction video has the potential to make Dick feel more like an equal individual.

The use of video media also opens up to various possibilities for expression. The use of imagery, sounds, and animations, for instance an animated character which represents Dick, could serve as a mediator for the delivery of emotions. During the co-design session, it became apparent that contrary to human medi- ation, technological mediation facilitates empowerment to make Dick feel like a self-sufficient individual. Therefore, an introduction video has the potential to create a sense of autonomy.

Despite that scenario co-construction normally encourages co-designers to come up with their own relevant cases, the demarcation provided by the scenario canvas had its own benefits. The co-designers managed to target value paths of interest quickly and explicitly, such that most of their time could be allocated to the development of a solution. Furthermore, they experienced the guidance to be helpful; “We managed to come up with this solution thanks to this (the scenario canvas).” Dick himself exclaimed enthusiastically;“Fun idea, right?” Thus, scenario co-construction aided by the scenario canvas has resulted in the development of a concept, which is satisfactory to the end user as it addresses various values that are important to him.

5

Co-Design Evaluation

5.1

Impact: Quality of Data and Quantitative Use

Figure 24 provides a brief summary of the outcomes per co-design phase in an information flowchart. The ideas generated in prior phases tend to resurface in subsequent stages. The realization that auditory factors are not the mere determinants of successful communication, identified in the association network phase, is refined to a more concrete concept during the scenario solving phase; the use of a visual language to lessen the reliance on auditory aspects. Subse- quently, the visual language evolved into a video concept during the scenario co-construction phase. Moreover, co-designers explicitly mentioned that their outcomes from prior phases sparked new ideas. One of the participants said; “To build on top of the priorly mentioned smileys, we thought of including an animated character”.

Figure 24: INFLO: Information Flowchart. An overview to display how concepts have developed over time, using outputs from previous activities.

More examples of how concepts have developed over time throughout the session can be found in table 9. Each row displays one particular development. Reoccurrence of design elements was most prominently present in the association network activity, scenario solving, and scenario co-construction. Consequently, only these 3 phases have been included in table 9. In two cases, the reoccurring elements are more abstract; they are design requirements. Firstly, in the second

row, the limited scope of visuals due to their context dependency is addressed again in the final concept; a single video may not be applicable in all cases. Therefore, a set of videos for multiple occasions is proposed in order to make use of the same technological solution in multiple contexts. Secondly, in the final row, the reoccurring requirement is to apply technologies in a decentralized manner. In other words, technologies are spread out to deliver messages to all individuals separately. Based on the observed occurrences of reciprocal learning, and the fact that the developed introduction video is directly based on the ideas provided by the co-designers, it is cautiously concluded that the participants have had a significant impact on the co-design process.

Idea Progression

Network Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 3 Co-construction Non-verbal Smileys for Animated - Video to show the communication communication character user’s personality Non-verbal Visual language - - Videos for multiple communication has limited options occasions Non-verbal Trouble expressing Emotion avatar - Video to support

communication emotions emotions in speech

- - - Time efficient Video to quickly

speech protocol start presentations

Correct view on - - - Video for correct

disabled people portrayal of SMA

Non-verbal Visual context Presentation slides - Real-time subtitles communication for speech support for presentations Non-verbal Visual context Speech-to-image - -

communication for speech support converter

Non-verbal All players get their - All attendees get - communication own screen for cues their own headsets

Table 9: An overview of how concepts came to be throughout the co-design session.