Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Xerox around $100 million dollars a year, and improved the learning curve
of the technicians by 300%. Another example is given in Hepsø and Bot-
nevik (2002) who describe the effect that storytelling and communities of
practice have had in improving crane operations on North Sea oil plat-
forms owned by Statoil - the Norwegian State Oil Company.
Considerable learning often takes place in the process of engagement it-
self and the citizens involved become more informed as users/consumers
of ICT products, systems and services. As a consequence of this learning,
knowledge of the technological possibilities grows. The importance of this
for improving confidence and enabling participation has been highlighted
by Eisma et al. (2003). In their research they concluded that “ older people
are sometimes too much in awe of the technical knowledge of the develop-
ers, and it is important to make them aware of their (own) expertise, and
how valuable their contribution is .” With this awareness and confidence
grows the capacity and interest of stakeholders to explore and evaluate
alternative options - and to suggest new options for consideration, or even
quite new directions to explore.
This capability can be seen in a number of examples of older people be-
ing introduced to new technology. Inglis et al. (2002) after passing PDAs
round to older people as part of a user-centred design process for memory
aids, commented on the responsiveness the participants showed to the new
technology. They also reported that younger, technically-aware users were
able to ask for functionality, unlike the older generation which had experi-
enced less exposure to developments in technology and were therefore un-
aware of the possibilities. This underlines the need to spend time and effort
transferring knowledge to citizens to build capacity which will enable
them to contribute to the design process (Inglis et al. 2002).
Eisma recalls talking to an older woman in one of the research focus
groups used in their research. The elderly woman reacted to the description
of every project very positively, wanting to get involved. When Eisma told
her the methods they would be using were focus groups, hands on work-
shops, questionnaires, interviews, etc, the elderly woman responded: “ yes,
an exchange of information... I have the experience of being an older per-
son I can share with you and you have just told me about so many things
I have never thought of before... we can both help one another ”. After an
hour, this die-hard 'no computers for me' told Eisma that she was going to
the 'learning flat' (an apartment equipped with ICTs) the next week to start
using the computers “ as I would need it for using the messaging type thing
you were talking about ”. Eisma said to her “ so, you're now interested?
Her friend said “ that's because you've given her a reason ” (to start using a
computer) (Eisma et al. 2003).
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