Date 18-09-2016
Location Google India, Bengaluru.
Organizers Women in User Experience – XX+UX Bangalore
Event description:
Self-monitoring, or popularly self-quantifying, is increasingly pervading everyday lives. This is particularly so in the cases of people managing chronic conditions as well as for preventing lifestyle related diseases. The abundance of fitbits, jawbones, nike ++, apple watches are indicative of this emerging trend. In this work-in-progress talk, I speculate on what it means to design digital technology in support of self-monitoring not as conceptualized by the medical literature but as it happens in everyday life outside the boundaries of a clinic. I draw from situated design engagements with the particularities of an individual’s setting of self-monitoring to bring forward a nuanced understanding of the roles digital technology could possibly play in enhancing out-of-clinic healthcare and well being. Furthermore, through this talk I will also speculate on the role of design itself, pointing to how it could be employed as a means of sustained and rigorous inquiry rather than merely a means to a usable/desirable product.
(Event description has been taken from Facebook event page)
Event summary
Event started slightly late but everyone was eager to hear more from Naveen Baglakot. He has warned us initially that his talk was going to be very proactive and practical. He was particularly going to talk about agreement about the gender based notion and advices. At the start, he has defined 4 points for conversation:
– It is about context, context, and context
– It is about changing gender imbalance
– It is about questioning and challenging the deep rooted socioal-cultural practices.
– It is about considering design as a means of inquiry rather than a means to an end.
He has also warned us that his talk is going to be very provocative and on the practical grounds.
After a brief introduction, he took us towards health care sector. He particularly emphasize highly popular health care mobile applications to help people in maintaining their fitness level. Concept of self monitoring has emerged in recent years after the result of extensive research, which has pointed out need for behavioral changes.
But, he once again raised a very simple question. How much personal information in terms of fitness can be quantified? What aspect of human body can be measured/quantified to put senor on it ? Especially, when people are finding their own meaning to use technology. Many of the health care apps are focused on quantification but missing on aspects such as usage by people. His argument was missing context in such type of designs. He provided some examples from his own work to demonstrate the inclusion of human in designing technological tools rather than replacing them. It is like designing based on context.
His next question he provided examples and asked us about how gender imbalance in design and production of technology can be changed? Many technologies were designed by Men for Women somehow missed many aspects to make them gender neutral.
He then returned to his very earlier question about questioning and challenging social-cultural norm. He gave examples of associations, organizations; currently working on the similar themes. He has also highlighted difficulties faced by those organizations.
After his lecture, we had a very intense discussion on variety of topics. Before the conclusion, organizers introduced UX+XX community, vision, and planned future events.
(Based on personal experiences. Need not to be true to the minute details)
About speakers
Naveen’s research is within the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and User Experience Design. Over the past five years, he has been involved in the domain of collaborative designing for out-of-clinic healthcare, exploring the design of pervasive and mobile Information & Communication Technology that support people to perform care activities meaningfully across everyday spaces, things and people. His research addresses the issues and challenges posed by the resource-constrained settings for technological design by embracing of the heterogeneous everyday practices of the end-users.
With a background in Architecture, Industrial Design and Interaction Design he brings exploratory design skills in combination with an ethnographic sensitivity to participatory design research. He is interested in innovating for emerging communities through figuring ways of embracing the ongoing assemblages of living.
Naveen holds a Ph.D. in Interaction Design from IT-University of Copenhagen, Denmark, an M.Des in Industrial Design from IIT-Bombay, and a B.Arch from Vishveshwarya Technological University, India.
About organizers
-Event Page
– Women in User Experience – XX+UX Bangalore
A place for women in India in User Experience Design (UX) to share stories, news, and encouragement with each other. Read more on website here
Ankit Khandelwal 