Here, we discuss the development of the Helen platform as part of Yunzhi’s MSc project, which helps users overcome barriers to achieving academic and career goals. It highlights key findings from participatory design sessions with British and Arab users, revealing shared preferences and cultural differences in web interaction.

Background:

Global Share is a community initiative to build a social enterprise driven by the disparities in software development and access to online information between English-speaking and non-English-speaking regions (Graham et al., 2014; Jagne & Smith-Atakan, 2006). It also draws from the experiences of Helen Keller. The enterprise is developing the Helen platform to help users hindered by language and regional barriers achieve their academic and career goals. The platform will provide various services, including high-quality resources from professionals and a social network of like-minded individuals. Currently, the platform targets users in the UK and Arab regions but is in the early stages of development and facing cross-cultural challenges.

By conducting interviews with stakeholders, we gained insights into the development status of Helen. Based on the latest research on cross-cultural participatory design, we applied methods to address these issues. Several cross-cultural participatory design experiments were conducted, offering critical insights into how British and Arab cultures differ regarding web interaction and participatory design processes.

Methods:

Participatory design aims to reduce the power imbalance between designers and users by giving users a platform to voice their opinions (Merritt & Stolterman, 2012). However, as this approach has gained popularity, its original intent of balancing power has been diluted, especially in cross-cultural contexts (Mainsah & Morrison, 2014). Research also shows that cultural differences can influence preferences in web and interaction design (Alsswey & Al-Samarraie, 2021; Cyr & Trevor-Smith, 2004).

For the Helen platform, which caters to a multicultural audience, it’s crucial to use suitable participatory design methods while factoring in cultural differences in design preferences.

Our methodology is based on Hagen’s (2012) framework, which involves engaging end users in the design process—aligning perfectly with the target users of the Helen platform.

The process involved three key stages:

1. Stakeholder Interviews – To understand the current development of Helen.
2. Participatory Design Workshops– Conducted separately for British and Arab users.
3. Cross-Cultural Design Experiments – To explore how cultural differences impact design preferences.

To ensure an equitable, participatory design process, we considered cross-cultural factors such as language diversity (Cardinal et al., 2020), design preferences (Alsswey & Al-Samarraie, 2021), and scenario-driven design (Okamoto et al., 2007). We also followed the Design for Care principles (Rossitto et al., 2021) and incorporated four critical participatory design principles and techniques:

1. Speak with Comfort – Ensuring participants feel comfortable voicing their opinions.
   • Creating a supportive environment where participants feel safe and respected is essential for fostering open dialogue and ensuring that all voices are heard, regardless of cultural or language differences.
2. Reverse Brainstorming – Encouraging participants to solve problems by exploring what could go wrong.
   • This technique challenges participants to think of potential obstacles or adverse outcomes, allowing for creative problem-solving by addressing issues from an opposing perspective and turning them into actionable insights.
3. Visual Aids – Using visual aids to facilitate more transparent communication.
   •  Visual tools, such as diagrams, sketches, or prototypes, help bridge language gaps and enable participants to express their ideas more clearly, making complex concepts easier to understand across cultures.
4. Think for the Community – Fostering a collaborative mindset.
   • Encouraging participants to focus on collective goals rather than individual interests helps create solutions that benefit the wider community, promoting a spirit of teamwork and shared ownership of the design process.

Miro was used as the platform to conduct these participatory design processes.

Results:

The participatory design sessions revealed some interesting insights. Contrary to the differences anticipated based on previous research, users from the UK and Arab regions shared similar design preferences in many areas, including:

• A preference for visual information.
• A strong desire for community interaction.
• Goal sharing and a preference for reward systems.

However, there were distinct cultural differences in specific design elements:

• Web Design: UK users preferred higher information density, while Arab users favoured a cleaner, less crowded interface.
• Interaction Design: British users preferred clear goal-setting guidance, whereas Arab users valued more flexible goal incentives.

Additionally, cross-cultural differences were observed in the participatory design sessions themselves. British users expressed their opinions more independently and were less likely to adjust their views in response to others. In contrast, Arab users tended to adapt their opinions based on group dynamics and showed a greater enthusiasm for open discussions.

Discussion:

The findings indicate that Helen may not require two entirely distinct design versions for UK and Arab users, as there are many shared preferences. However, variations in interaction design suggest that some culturally tailored features may enhance the user experience for different regions.

The participatory design sessions also highlighted different collaboration habits between the two cultures, underscoring the need for a thoughtful, care-focused approach in cross-cultural design. Ensuring that all participants feel comfortable and empowered to express their ideas is critical to developing software that meets the diverse needs of a global audience. Future research should continue to explore how cross-cultural participatory design can be refined to further address these differences. It’s also important to note that these results are constrained by the limited timeframe of the three-month MSc project and the relatively small size of the data generated, which may not fully capture the diverse preferences within the broader populations.

Screenshots:

• Board S: Stakeholder Interviews

• Board A: Arabic Participatory Design Session

• Board B: UK Participatory Design Session

Conclusion:

This project provided insights into cross-cultural design preferences and collaboration habits between British and Arab users, contributing to the development of Helen. While the findings suggest more similarities than differences in design preferences, specific cultural nuances in interaction design warrant further attention. By using participatory design methods, the project identified factors for improving cross-cultural collaboration in design and sets interesting possiblilties for future research and development.

As a collaborative project with Global Share, this research offers practical guidance for designing platforms like Helen that cater to diverse cultural audiences.

About the Researcher:

Yunzhi Xu holds a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) from the University of St Andrews and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Technology. He currently works as a Product Manager in the fintech industry, focusing on user experience and interaction design for financial software. His interests lie in user-centered design and participatory design, with plans to explore HCI practices further within fintech. Yunzhi is also considering pursuing a PhD in the future.

The Researcher’s Reflection on the Project: As an individual with an Asian background, participating in a project focused on British and Arab cultures presented unique challenges, especially in communication. However, I soon discovered that cultural differences often fade in the context of open and respectful dialogue, which led to productive stakeholder meetings.

One challenge I faced was scheduling design sessions with participants across multiple time zones. To address this, I used online polling to coordinate availability, which made it easier to respect everyone’s time and manage sessions effectively.

Reflection on Support:

I am immensely grateful for the guidance provided by Dr Miguel and Dr Ardati. Their weekly meetings, filled with insightful conversations and new research articles, helped me gain fresh perspectives on my project. Their support was invaluable in navigating the challenges I encountered and contributed to my growth as both a researcher and a professional.

Contact Information:

• Email: xyz.musnrd@gmail.com
• Tel (UK): +44 7536246116
• Tel (China): +86 15210679860
• LinkedIn: Yunzhi Xu LinkedIn

Dr Ardati‘s Reflection:

I am proud of the work done on this project, which tackles an important and often overlooked issue in participatory design—bridging cultural differences in a meaningful way. The research highlights the complexity and value of designing platforms for users from diverse backgrounds, offering important insights into how British and Arab cultures interact with digital interfaces. I was particularly impressed by the student’s application of cross-cultural participatory design methods, which revealed both unexpected similarities and nuanced differences. Throughout the project, the Yunzhi demonstrated exceptional diligence, consistently delivering high-quality work and showing a clear commitment to understanding the impact of cultural dynamics on design. Their performance reflects not only strong academic rigor but also a deep curiosity and respect for the diverse perspectives of the stakeholders involved.

Additional References:

• Alsswey, A., & Al-Samarraie, H. (2021). The role of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in the design of user interface: The case of Arabic. AI EDAM, 35(1), 116–127. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0890060421000019
• Cardinal, A., Gonzales, L., & J. Rose, E. (2020). Language as Participation: Multilingual User Experience Design. Proceedings of the 38th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1145/3380851.3416763
• Cyr, D., & Trevor-Smith, H. (2004). Localization of Web design: An empirical comparison of German, Japanese, and United States Web site characteristics. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 55(13), 1199–1208. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.20075
• Graham, M., Hogan, B., Straumann, R. K., & Medhat, A. (2014). Uneven Geographies of User-Generated Information: Patterns of Increasing Informational Poverty. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 104(4), 746–764. https://doi.org/10.1080/00045608.2014.910087
• Hagen, P., Collin, P., Metcalf, A., Nicholas, M., Rahilly, K., & Swainston, N. (2012). Participatory design of evidence-based online youth mental health promotion, intervention and treatment. https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws%3A18814/
• Jagne, J., & Smith-Atakan, A. S. G. (2006). Cross-cultural interface design strategy. Universal Access in the Information Society, 5(3), 299–305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-006-0048-6
• Mainsah, H., & Morrison, A. (2014). Participatory design through a cultural lens: Insights from postcolonial theory. Proceedings of the 13th Participatory Design Conference: Short Papers, Industry Cases, Workshop Descriptions, Doctoral Consortium Papers, and Keynote Abstracts – Volume 2, 83–86. https://doi.org/10.1145/2662155.2662195
• Merritt, S., & Stolterman, E. (2012). Cultural hybridity in participatory design. Proceedings of the 12th Participatory Design Conference: Exploratory Papers, Workshop Descriptions, Industry Cases – Volume 2, 73–76. https://doi.org/10.1145/2348144.2348168
• Mushtaha, A., & De Troyer, O. (2007). Cross-Cultural Understanding of Content and Interface in the Context of E-Learning Systems. In N. Aykin (Ed.), Usability and Internationalization. HCI and Culture (pp. 164–173). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73287-7_21
• Okamoto, M., Komatsu, H., Gyobu, I., & Ito, K. (2007). Participatory Design Using Scenarios in Different Cultures. Human-Computer Interaction. Interaction Design and Usability, 223–231. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73105-4_25
• Rossitto, C., Korsgaard, H., Lampinen, A., & Bødker, S. (2021). Efficiency and Care in Community-led Initiatives. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 5(CSCW2), 467:1-467:27. https://doi.org/10.1145/3479611

Alongside Dr Angela Miguel, I had the privilege of presenting at the Enhancing Student Learning Through Innovative Scholarship (ESLTIS) Conference, a pioneering platform for educators in UK higher education. We discussed advancing education through technology and enhancing evening degree learning experiences, focusing on the critical issue of digital poverty in the UK.

Here are key insights and tips we shared that apply to educational settings, especially in IT modules and hybrid environments:

💻 Leverage Hybrid Learning: Use the Dimensions of Learning Designs (modified ACAD model by Bülow, M.W., 2022) to balance physical and digital learning spaces, enhancing the learning experience through diverse resources and social interactions. This model includes 🏗 Set Design, which focuses on the learning environment’s technological and spatial arrangements; 📑 Epistemic Design, which involves the activities and tasks presented to students; and 👫 Social Design, which encompasses the social structures and relationships shaping the learning experience.

🤝 Promote Collaborative and Reflective Assignments: Foster collaboration and deeper understanding with group work and reflective elements to assignments to enhance both student and lecturer awareness of the learning journey.

🌍 Integrate Real-Life Contexts: Enhance motivation by allowing students to incorporate their experiences and invite external expertise or guest speakers into learning spaces.

🧠 Engage with Social Issues: Design assignments addressing societal challenges like digital poverty to promote critical thinking and awareness.

I was also thrilled to share with the audience the work I do with Dr Kirsty Ross on the IDEA network, which encourages educators to focus on societal challenges, such as digital poverty, through research and MSc and SH student projects. The enthusiasm for joining the network was truly inspiring! 🌍💡

Please explore more about the IDEA network on our Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IDEA_network

ESLTIS continues to elevate teaching in the research-intensive climate of higher education, and being part of this vibrant forum was truly inspiring. Highly recommended!

Let’s keep pushing the boundaries of education innovation and supporting our students in addressing critical social issues together! 💪

For more details on the talk, please check out our abstract: https://easychair.org/smart-program/ESLTIS24/2024-07-08.html#talk:256724

📜 Recommended reading: Bülow, M.W. (2022). Designing Synchronous Hybrid Learning Spaces: Challenges and Opportunities. In: Gil, E., Mor, Y., Dimitriadis, Y., Köppe, C. (eds) Hybrid Learning Spaces. Understanding Teaching-Learning Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88520-5_9

Abd recently shared his expertise at the Eighth Annual UK System Research Challenges Workshop with a talk titled “Introducing Socio-technical Change in Large-Scale Systems: A Distributed Participatory Design Approach,” sparking curiosity among attendees.  

Abd, a member of the SACHI community and an HCI and Software Engineering Lecturer [1], emphasises the importance of understanding the experiences of those affected before rushing into solutions. Engaging them from the outset helps avoid costly blunders. As Abd puts it: 

“Co-designing with end-users isn’t just savvy—it’s the name of the game!” 

In his talk at the SRCW24, he emphasised the pivotal role of the discovery stage, stressing the need to actively involve end users in shaping system design. Abd cautioned against the pitfalls of jumping right into implementation and creating redundant systems or solving the wrong problems with the best solutions, advocating for a community-centric approach to innovation that resonates deeply with the ethos of SACHI. 

Drawing from his research and practical experiences, Abd urged the UK Systems Research community to explore innovative approaches that prioritise community needs. By aligning system development with real-world challenges, we can take significant steps forward in addressing critical societal issues like digital poverty [2]. 

Abd is giving a talk about socio-technical change at the UK System Research Challenges Workshop.

Abd’s presentation served as a powerful reminder of the human aspect of system design, a core value shared by the SACHI community. It sparked vibrant discussions on how we can integrate community-led solutions into our research and design processes, ultimately leading to more meaningful and impactful outcomes.

Furthermore, Abd highlighted the benefits of participatory design, emphasising how investing time and resources upfront can lead to better outcomes, fewer redesigns, and cost savings in the long run. This underscores the value of prioritising user needs throughout the design process, aligning with the overarching theme of Abd’s presentation.  

As we reflect on Abd’s insights and experiences, let us continue to embrace a collaborative and user-centred approach to HCI research. By prioritising community needs and engaging in responsible innovation, we can create impactful solutions that address the diverse needs of our communities. 

Abd’s PhD thesis that provides more details on the framework:  https://doi.org/10.17630/sta/623 

[1] Eighth Annual UK System Research Challenges Workshop 2024: https://uksystems.org/workshop/2024/ 

[2] UK Parliament’s Communications and Digital Committee Report on Digital Poverty: https://api.parliament.uk/s/8e2afba6 

VocabulARy: Learning Vocabulary in Augmented Reality Supported by Keyword Method

Abstract:

The “keyword method” is an effective mnemonic technique for learning vocabulary in a foreign language. It involves creating a mental association between the object the foreign word represents and a word in one’s native language that sounds similar (called the keyword). Learning foreign language vocabulary is enhanced when we encounter words in context. This context can be provided by the place or activity we are engaged with. This talk will present our work “VocabulARy” which enhances the language learning process by providing users with keywords and their visualisations in context using augmented reality (AR).

Bio:

More about Maheshya Weerasinghe Arachchillage

Event details:

• When: 10th April 2024 12:30 – 13:30
• Where: Jack Cole 1.19

If you’re interested in attending any of the seminars in room 1.19, please email the SACHI seminar coordinator: aaa8@st-andrews.ac.uk so they can make appropriate arrangements for the seminar based on the number of attendees.

Perspective taking, partner models and user language use in speech based human-machine dialogue

Abstract:

Bio:

Event details:

• When: 3rd April 2024 12:30 – 13:30
• Where: Jack Cole 1.19

If you’re interested in attending any of the seminars in room 1.19, please email the SACHI seminar coordinator: aaa8@st-andrews.ac.uk so they can make appropriate arrangements for the seminar based on the number of attendees.

We have 2 presentations on the 13th March focusing on Tangible interfaces by Laura Pruszko and Anna Carter.

Talk 1: Designing for Modularity – a modular approach to physical user interfaces

Abstract:

Bio:

Bio:

Event details:

• When: 13th March 2024 12:00 – 14:00. There’ll be cakes and soft drinks from 12 onwards. The talks will be from 12:30 – 13:30
• Where: Jack Cole 1.33 (Soft drinks and cake provided by F&D)

Congratulations to Tomas Vancisin presenting his research ‘Provenance in Information Visualization and Digital Humanities’.

Abstract:

Alex will discuss a critique of modern software engineering and outline how it systematically produces systems that have negative social consequences. To help counter this trend, he offers the notion of rights-driven development, which puts the concept of a right at the heart of software engineering practices. Alex’s first step to develop rights-driven practices is to introduce a language for rights in software engineering. He provides an overview of the elements such a language must contain and outlines some ideas for developing a domain-specific language that can be integrated with modern software engineering approaches. 

Bio:

Alex Voss, who’s an Honorary Lecturer here at the school and an external member of our group. Alex was also a Technology Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and an Associate in the Department of Philosophy at Harvard.

Alex holds a PhD in Informatics and works at the intersection of the social sciences and computer science. His current research aims to develop new representations, practices and tools for rights-respecting software engineering. He is also working on the role that theories of causation have in making sense of complex socio-technical systems.

His research interests include: causality in computing, specifically in big data and machine learning applications; human-centric co-realization of technologies; responsible innovation; computing and society; computer-based and computer-aided research methods.

More about Alex: https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/persons/alexander-voss

Event details:

• When: 28th February 2024 12:30 – 13:30
• Where: Jack Cole 1.19

If you’re interested in attending any of the seminars in room 1.19, please email the SACHI seminar coordinator: aaa8@st-andrews.ac.uk so they can make appropriate arrangements for the seminar based on the number of attendees.

Sign up for our workshop Exploring the value and significance of bringing a craft ethos to debates around the IoT/connected things

Call for Participation

Join us for a one day workshop to explore how a craft practice and ethos can help us to respond to privacy, trust, bias and the Internet of Things.

“How healthy is the internet?”  As more and more things become internet-connected (i.e. become part of the IoT) questions of trust, privacy, security, data ownership, data bias, and the commercial abuse of data, become ever more pressing. This reflects a recognition of a wider problem with the internet alongside the rapid developments in machine learning (i.e. AI) and how it is being unreflectively ‘put to work’ in an ever-increasing range of applications. This workshop will explore these tensions and concerns through the lens of craft, both as a practice and a conceptual ethos.

This studio will use embroidery as a craft-oriented communal/social practice activity to scaffold a discussion framed by our craft ethos characteristics, involving notions of; subjectivity, bespokeness, localism, embodiment, provenance, authenticity, and care-full-ness. Embroidery is an appropriate craft-oriented method which we believe encourages flavors of conversation that are distinct from other forms of participatory workshops. Whilst these activities will likely enable mindful stitching, we are more pointedly using this method as a dialogical activity where the acts of communal stitching will enable us to direct conversation to certain aspects of craft characteristics beyond the literal objects participants are making. Through this embodied making activity, you will create a bespoke embroidered badge based on a set of provocations and take a deep dive into the issues with IoT we have highlighted.

Through making together in small groups, supported by experienced researchers working in the field, we hope to provide an environment for rich discussion and material speculation on alternative visions of ‘healthier’ connected futures. The studio will use the embroidered outcomes as well as a range of predesigned props and design resources to not only discuss entanglements of living well in a digital culture, but also to help us collectively and individually envision stories/scenarios which encapsulates vision/s of an alternative, healthier, digitally connected future. At the conclusion of the workshop we will explore the possibility of setting up a special interest group that takes our thinking forward into the future.

More information and Sign up here

Designing for Care in Online Communities

Abstract:

Join us for an insightful seminar by our recent PhD graduate discussing the intricacies of co-designing for online communities. Abd will present a novel framework stemming out of his PhD project, the Ethnographically-informed Distributed Participatory Design (EDPD) Framework for Sociotechnical Change. This framework offers a holistic approach to co-design, emphasising the importance of understanding online communities’ social dynamics and technological infrastructures. 

Bio:

Abd is an HCI and Software Engineering Lecturer with a passion for addressing pressing societal issues through sociotechnical systems design. Under the supervision of Alex Voss, Uta Hinrichs, Ian Gent, and Angela Miguel, Abd took on a challenging yet fulfilling journey to explore the complexities of designing for online communities. Currently, he continues to delve into the intersection of technology and society, focusing on digital poverty and open knowledge gaps. Abd’s research aims to bridge the gap between technology and society, enabling a more inclusive and equitable digital landscape. He is particularly interested in bringing researchers closer to communities, fostering collaboration and co-design efforts that empower individuals and promote meaningful social change. 

Event details:

Date: Wednesday, 06/12/2023 

Time: 2:30 PM 

Location: Room 1.19