A group of design researchers in the Department of Design at the Aarhus School of Architecture have been involved in the EU-funded research project PalCom, which is about computer technology applications. In such a large-scale project, the challenge was to define the role of design – and, not least, to ensure one’s own research gains from the project.

By Mads Nygaard Folkmann

When making a bid for a research project that is applying for funding under one of the EU’s framework programmes for research, project partners can define so-called ‘work packages’ that they will be responsible for. The Aarhus School of Architecture was not able to define a specific work package concerning physical products in the PalCom project, which is a part of the EU’s 6th framework programme. Associate Professor Jørgen Rasmussen, who is head of research for design at the Aarhus School of Architecture, says that next time the school makes a bid for a project, the bid should define a work package in order to clarify the specific design content in the project and bring the school’s own design-specific research into the project.

PalCom was completed in December 2007 and was headed by the Department of Computer Science at Aarhus University. It was a large-scale project with many partners on various levels: In all, 12 departments and 100 researchers were involved in the project, which had a budget of approximately € 13 million.

PalCom – a Complex Project

Design plays a key role in the PalCom project, which was another reason why it was important to bring design research content into the project. PalCom stands for palpable computing: taking the increasingly ubiquitous and invisible computer technology and making it accessible and comprehensible to a variety of user groups. Thus, the project slogan is “making computing palpable”, that is, addressing and designing IT-solutions so that they accommodate the user – not only in terms of designing good user interfaces but also with regard to the physical-sensory aspects of the use of products.

An information technology network: The biomonitor on the injured person’s chest communicates wirelessly with a base station that collects the information and, also wirelessly, passes it on.

 
 
In the project, the PalCom technology was tested and implemented in a variety of products and scenarios. The project had a particular emphasis on the health sector, as this is an area where operation difficulties can have fatal consequences: Having trouble operating a mobile phone is one thing; it is a different matter altogether if users have trouble operating vital (measuring) equipment where a few minutes can make the difference between life and death. Examples of application scenarios are Pregnancy and Maternity, where the technology is used to enhance parent’s knowledge about the foetus and improve their communication with the health services, and Surgical Rehabilitation, which revolves around a handheld device that a patient can use, for example to remember physiotherapy exercises for rehabilitating an injured hand.

Another example where the Aarhus School of Architecture was deeply involved in the development process is the scenario Major Incidents, where electronic biomonitors are attached to the injured in major emergency situations. The information from the monitors goes to a central computer, which uses it for triage, prioritising the casualties based on the severity of their condition. As Jørgen Rasmussen puts it, this represents an “intelligent use of technology that makes it possible to manage an emergency situation.”

The scenario Major Incidents is not merely an imagined situation but far too often a real-life challenge. Here, however, it is a simulation.

Design: From Principle to Application

PalCom is a principle or an idea about the application of modern technology, a ‘computing concept’, but the principle must be made concrete and manifest in order to demonstrate its usefulness. This is exactly where design can play a key role as a form of translation between principle and practical usage situation. And it is an area where the Department of Design at the Aarhus School of Architecture has been able to make essential contributions, for example through the design of prototypes of biomonitors for the Major Incidents scenario.

But it also proved to be an area with pitfalls. Jørgen Rasmussen explains: “Our role was to develop application prototypes for various types of usage scenarios, that is, we worked with the physical dimension of technology and converted it into various devices. Our experience was that our efforts to manifest the technology provided essential input to the project and greatly contributed to the outcome. However, there was a tendency for us to be seen and used as ‘problem-solvers’, who were good at testing things, but as soon as there was a change in perspective in the project, the focus shifted away from the physical aspects. In fact this means that it was not meaningful for us to continue our development efforts.” 

Various stages of the development process for prototypes of the biomonitor: Left, an early prototype, where the device to be attached to the patient’s chest, the electronics and the battery are all separate. Right, a more developed prototype where all the components are integrated into one unit. In its design, the prototype has become easier to attach to the patient’s chest.

 

Own Research Content

Jørgen Rasmussen has sought to maintain and emphasise the importance of the contributions that design can make to the development process. “We wanted to complete the process of developing the prototypes in order to be able to examine them in depth and thus gain knowledge that is indispensable in the ongoing process of developing new prototypes. This is where the project did not have enough room for gathering knowledge and specific design research content for our purposes.”

In the case of the biomonitor, the Aarhus School of Architecture took it upon itself to complete the prototype. “Doing it ourselves confirmed that our role is crucial to the project. Being part of the project has given us important professional validation: It was exciting, we were able to pull it off, and we provided essential input and knowledge for the project,” says Jørgen Rasmussen.

An example of the approach taken by the Aarhus School of Architecture in order to secure its own research content was to attach a Ph.D. scholarship to the project. Thus, in 2007, Gunnar Kramp did his Ph.D. dissertation, “Designing Mixed Media Devices for Support of Healthcare Professionals”, which studies how devices enter into the context of rooms, other objects, people and IT network.

Involving the Users

Jørgen Rasmussen points out that the research benefits have related both to the development of technology applications and to the development of methods for gathering knowledge from the relevant users. “We explored the principle of ‘pervasive computing’. This refers to increasingly ubiquitous presence of computer technology today, as it takes up so little room that it is practically invisible. We want to make sure that the technology is not simply invisible but also, for example, gives an indication in the case of malfunction, including an indication of the location of the problem. The way pervasive computing normally works, it’s impossible to figure out if something isn’t working properly – so if there’s a malfunction in a biomonitor, it’s impossible to see whether it’s the patient or the monitor that has a problem. There is no way to check. With the technology that we have developed, users without specialised knowledge about technology can be guided to the source of the malfunction and fix it.”

Testing the prototype: Simulating a usage situation.

With regard to user involvement the Aarhus School of Architecture has used a process of gathering information and developing proposals. “We have been working with this type of process for some years now; it’s known as ‘participatory design’. But in this project we have really put it to the test.
 
For example, in a phase of developing proposals we set up a scenario which we then tested with experienced users, like doctors and paramedics, in addition to observing them on the job. Then we assessed our input and went on to develop additional proposals about possible focus points. Then we used the new information for a new round of proposals; in principle the process can go on indefinitely. We achieve a higher and higher degree of consideration for user needs, and – crucial to the research input from our point of view – we increase our knowledge about how to design the optimum solution,” says Jørgen Rasmussen.

Who Owns the Agenda?

Jørgen Rasmussen says that participating in the PalCom project was a worthwhile experience. “We were invited to join, and subsequently we have learned a lot from the fact that, going in, we hadn’t specified exactly what our research contribution to the project would be. By not being in charge of an actual work package for devices, we were to some extent subject to other people’s research agendas – we did not have a sufficiently well-articulated research question, and that put us at risk for simply becoming an instrument for someone else.” 

Design as a collaborative process. Some of the working groups from the PalCom project are gathered for a project meeting in 2006.

The experience from the Aarhus School of Architecture is that it is crucial to have one’s own research theme included in the project. “We are currently working with the Department of Computer Science at Aarhus University, among others, in applying for a new research project under the EU’s 7th framework programme, and this time we’ve made sure to define our own work package. With this work package comes a specific responsibility and thus a better chance of adding design-relevant knowledge to the project. At the same time it’s important to define one’s own professional competence and its role in the project. This is particularly important when partnering up with strong, well-established research environments, such as the Department of Computer Science at Aarhus University,” says Jørgen Rasmussen.

You can visit the PalCom project website here.

Mind Design #5, 2008