Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Addressing Brazilian diversity in personal computing systems with a tailoring-based approach

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Personal and Ubiquitous Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Access to knowledge, information, and technology is a key element for the development of individuals and society as a whole. While computing systems play a fundamental role in this process, efforts aimed at diminishing the worldwide digital divide are still scarce. In this study, we propose a tailoring-based approach for personal systems design as a way to promote digital and social inclusion in contexts of highly unbalanced access to computing technology. Our approach uses theories and methods of participatory design and semiotics to tailor user interfaces according to principles of universal access. We propose the integration of the PLuRaL framework for the system conception and design with the FAN (flexibility through AJAX and norms) framework for implementation and deployment of tailorable user interfaces, reaching a complete approach for the creation of systems. The approach, frameworks, and methods were effectively analyzed during the design of an inclusive social network system in Brazil. In addition, we present an evaluation of the developed system and discuss possible impacts on digital inclusion.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Data from the 2010 National Census, and the Committee of Public Entities in the Struggle Against Hunger and for Life (from the Portuguese acronym, COEP).

  2. http://www.vilanarede.org.br

  3. Public places providing access to computers, the Internet and other digital technologies.

  4. http://www.w3.org/wai

  5. A system is said to be adaptable when the user explicitly asks for the change and is adaptive when it automatically changes its behavior [49]. Tailorable systems can be adaptable, adaptive, or even mixed.

  6. https://herzberg.ca.sandia.gov/

  7. https://www.techsmith.com

References

  1. Awada IA, Mocanu I, Nastac D, Benta D, Radu S (2018) Adaptive user interface for healthcare application for people with dementia, 2018 17th RoEduNet conference: networking in education and research (RoEduNet), Cluj-Napoca, pp 1–5

  2. Baranauskas MCC (2006) E-Cidadania: systems and methods in the constitution of a culture mediated by communication and information technology. Research Project. www.nied.unicamp.br/ecidadania

  3. Baranauskas MCC, Bonacin R (2008) Design - indicating through signs. MIT Press Des Issues 24:30–45

    Google Scholar 

  4. Baranauskas MCC, Souza CS (2006) Desafio n° 4: Acesso Participativo e Universal do Cidadão Brasileiro ao Conhecimento. Computação Brasil 27:7

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bonacin R, Baranauskas MCC (2005) An organizational semiotics approach towards Tailorable interfaces. In: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, 2005. Lawrence Erlbaum Ass. Inc. (LEA), Las Vegas, pp 1–12

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bonacin R, Baranauskas MCC, Liu K, Sun L (2009) Norms-based simulation for personalized service provision. Semiotica (Berlin) 2009:403–428

    Google Scholar 

  7. Bossavit B, Parsons S (2016) Designing an educational game for and with teenagers with high functioning autism. In: Proceedings of the 14th Participatory Design Conference: full papers - volume 1 (PDC ‘16), vol 1. ACM, New York, pp 11–20

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. Branco RM, Quental J, Ribeiro O (2016) Playing with personalisation and openness in a codesign project involving people with dementia. In: Proceedings of the 14th Participatory Design Conference: full papers - volume 1 (PDC ‘16), vol 1. ACM, New York, pp 61–70

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  9. Briggs P, Thomas L (2015) An inclusive, value sensitive design perspective on future identity technologies. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact. 22, 5, Article 23 (August 2015), 28 pages

  10. Coelho J, Duarte C (2016) A literature survey on older adults’ use of social network services and social applications. Comput Hum Behav 58:187–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Connell BR, Jones M, Mace R et al. (1997) The principles of universal design, version 2.0. Raleigh. The Center for Universal Design, North Carolina State University

  12. Costabile MF, Fogli D, Marcante A, Mussio P, Provenza LP, Piccinno A (2008) Designing customized and Tailorable visual interactive systems. Int J Softw Eng Knowl Eng 18(3):305–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Doyle J, Bailey C, Scanaill CN, Berg F (2014) Lessons learned in deploying independent living technologies to older adults’ homes. Univ Access Inf Soc 2(June 2014):191–204

    Google Scholar 

  14. Fischer G (2001) User modeling in human-computer interaction In. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction (UMUAI), 11(1):65–86

    Google Scholar 

  15. Fischer G (2007) Meta-design: expanding boundaries and redistributing control in design. In: C Baranauskas et al. (eds.) INTERACT 2007, LNCS 4662, Part I, pp 193–206

  16. Fortuna FJ, Bonacin R, Baranauskas MCC (2010) A framework for flexibility at the interface: joining Ajax technology and semiotics. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS 2010). SciTePress Science and Technology Publications, Lisboa, pp 30–37

    Google Scholar 

  17. Fortuna FJ, Bonacin R, Baranauskas MCC (2011) A framework based on ajax and semiotics to build flexible user interfaces. In: Filipe J, Cordeiro J (eds) Enterprise information systems. ICEIS 2010. Lecture notes in business information processing, vol 73. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

    Google Scholar 

  18. Gaspar RP, Bonacin R, Gonçalves VP (2018) Designing IoT solutions for elderly home care: a systematic study of participatory design, personas and semiotics. International Conference Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction (Lecture Notes in Computer Science) 2018:226–245

    Google Scholar 

  19. Gibson JJ (1968) The ecological approach to visual perception. Houghton Miffin Company, Boston, pp 127–143

    Google Scholar 

  20. Gröber P, Köster J (2016) An analysis to overcome shortcomings to improve the accessibility for the blind: a case study on Facebook’s homepage, 2016 12th International Conference on Signal-Image Technology & Internet-Based Systems (SITIS), Naples, 2016, pp 442–449

  21. Hayashi ECS, Neris VPA, Almeida LDA, Miranda LC, Martins MC, Baranauskas MCC (2008a) Clarifying the dynamics of social networks: narratives from the social context of e-Cidadania. Technical Report IC-08-030. www.ic.unicamp.br/~reltech

  22. Hayashi ECS, Neris VPA, Almeida LDA, Rodriguez LC, Martins MC, Baranauskas MCC (2008b) Inclusive social networks: clarifying concepts and prospecting solutions for e-Cidadania. Technical Report IC-08-029. www.ic.unicamp.br/~reltech

  23. Henderson A, Kyng M (1991) There’s no place like home: continuing design in use. In: Greenbaum J, Kyng M (eds) Design at work: cooperative design of computer systems. Lawrence Erlbaum Ass, Hillsdale, pp 219–240

    Google Scholar 

  24. Kim HN, Smith-Jackson TL, Kleiner BM (2014) Accessible haptic user interface design approach for users with visual impairments. Univ Access Inf Soc 4(November 2014):415–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Kjǽr A, Madsen KH (1995) Participatory analysis of flexibility. Commun ACM 38(5):53–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Kolkman M (1993) Problem articulation methodology. PhD Thesis, University of Twente

  27. Kožuh I, Hintermair M, Hauptman S, Debevc M (2015) What predicts the frequencies of activities on social networking sites among the D/deaf and hard of hearing? Procedia Comput Sci 67:185–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Leong TW, Robertson T (2016) Voicing values: laying foundations for ageing people to participate in design. In: Proceedings of the 14th Participatory Design Conference: full papers - volume 1 (PDC ‘16), vol 1. ACM, New York, pp 31–40

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  29. Leung K, Ho D, Ma J, Chuah PCK, Lee Y (2010) Bringing in communicative rationality into design participation: a lesson from inclusive design. In: Proceedings of the 11th Biennial Participatory Design conference (PDC ‘10). ACM, New York, pp 101–110

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  30. Lin Y, Breugelmans J, Iversen M, Schmidt D (2017) An adaptive Interface design (AID) for enhanced computer accessibility and rehabilitation. Int J Hum Comput Stud 98(2017):14–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Liu K (2000) Semiotics in information systems engineering. Cambridge University Press

  32. MacLean A, Carter K, Lövstrand L, Moran T (1990) User-tailorable systems: pressing the issue with buttons. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Computer Human Interaction (CHI ‘90), 1–5 April, Seattle (Washington). ACM Press, New York, pp 175–182

    Google Scholar 

  33. Makhaeva J, Frauenberger C, Spiel K (2016) Creating creative spaces for co-designing with autistic children: the concept of a “hand-lungsspielraum”. In: Proceedings of the 14th Participatory Design Conference: full papers - volume 1 (PDC ‘16), vol 1. ACM, New York, pp 51–60

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  34. Melo AM, Baranauskas MCC (2006) An inclusive approach to cooperative evaluation of web user interfaces. In Proceedings of Eighth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, pp 65–70

  35. Mislove A, Marcon M, Gummadi KP, Druschel P, Bhattacharjee B (2007) Measurement and analysis of online social networks. In Proceedings of the 7thACM SIGCOMM Conference on Internet Measurement, pp 29–42

  36. Muller MJ, Haslwanter JH, Dayton T (1997) Participatory practices in the software lifecycle. In: Helander MG, Landauer TK, Prabhu PV (eds) Handbook of human-computer interaction, 2nd edn. Elsevier, pp 255–297

  37. Mumford E (1964) Living with a computer. Institute of Personnel Management, London

    Google Scholar 

  38. Mumford E, Henshall D (1979) A participative approach to computer systems design: a case study of the introduction of a new computer system. Associated Business Programmes, London

    Google Scholar 

  39. Neris VPA (2010) A framework for designing tailorable user interfaces. PhD Thesis. Institute of Computing. UNICAMP. Brazil

  40. Neris VPA, Baranauskas MCC (2011) A framework for designing flexible systems. In: IEEE International Conference on Systems Man and Cybernetics (SMC) - Human-Machine Systems Track, Anchorage

  41. Neris VPA, Baranauskas MCC (2012) Designing tailorable software systems with the users’ participation. J Braz Comput Soc 18:213–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Neris VPA, Martins MC, Prado MEBB, Hayashi ECS, Baranauskas MCC (2008) Design de interfaces Para Todos – Demandas da Diversidade cultural e social. In Proceedings of the 35th Integrated Software and Hardware Seminar (SEMISH 2008), XXVIII Congress of the Brazilian Computer Society

  43. Neris VPA, Almeida LDA, de Miranda LC, Hayashi ECS, Baranauskas MCC (2009a) Towards a socially-constructed meaning for inclusive social network systems. In International proceedings of the International Conference on Informatics and Semiotics in Organisations (ICISO 2009). Beijing-China, pp 247–254

  44. Neris VPA, Hornung H, Miranda L, Almeida L, Baranauskas MCC (2009b) Building social applications with a semio-participatory approach In Proceedings of IADIS-WWW/Internet 2009

  45. Neris VPA, Hayashi ECS, Martins MC, Baranauskas MCC (2010) Making Vila na Rede system more flexible a participatory practice to elicit the tailorable behavior. Technical report

  46. Neris, VPA; Fortuna FJ, Bonacin R, Baranauskas MCC (2011) Addressing diversity in web systems with norms and a tailoring-based approach. In: Proceedings of the ADIS International Conference WWW/INTERNET. vol 1, pp 19–28

  47. Newell AF, Gregor P, Morgan M, Pullin G, Macaulay C (2011) User-sensitive inclusive design. Univ Access Inf Soc 10:235–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-010-0203-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Ogonowski ACK, Vaziri D, Rekowski DTV, Randall D, Schreiber D, Wieching R, Wulf V (2016) ICT-based fall prevention system for older adults: qualitative results from a long-term field study. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact. 23, 5, Article 29 (October 2016)

  49. Oppermann R, Simm H (1994) Adaptability: user-initiated individualization, adaptive user support: ergonomic design of manually and automatically adaptable software. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Mahwah

    Google Scholar 

  50. Patwardhan A (2018) Chapter 4 - financial inclusion in the digital age. In: Chuen DLK, Deng R (eds) Handbook of blockchain, digital finance, and inclusion, vol 1. Academic Press, pp 57–89

  51. Pearson J, Robinson S, Jones M (2016) Exploring low-cost, Internet-free information access for resource-constrained communities. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact. 23, 6, Article 36 (December 2016)

  52. Raskin J (2000) The humane interface: new directions for designing interactive systems. ACM Press/Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., USA

    Google Scholar 

  53. Raufi B, Ferati M, Zenuni X, Ajdari J, Ismaili F (2015) Methods and techniques of adaptive web accessibility for the blind and visually impaired. Procedia Soc Behav Sci 195(2015):1999–2007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Reblin M, Wu YP, Pok J, Kane L, Colman H, Cohen AL, Mendivil E, Warner EL, Meyer M, Agutter J (2017) Development of the electronic social network assessment program using the center for eHealth and wellbeing research roadmap. JMIR Hum Factors 4(3):e23. https://doi.org/10.2196/humanfactors.7845

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Recabarren M, Nussbaum M (2010) Exploring the feasibility of web form adaptation to users' cultural dimension scores. User Model User-Adap Inter 20(1):87–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Rice M, Carmichael A (2013) Factors facilitating or impeding older adults’ creative contributions in the collaborative design of a novel DTV-based application. Univ Access Inf Soc 1(March 2013):5–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Santana V, Solarte DSM, Neris VPA, Miranda LC, Baranauskas MCC (2009) Redes Sociais online: Desafios e Possibilidades Para o Contexto Brasileiro. In Proceedings of the 36th Integrated Software and Hardware Seminar (SEMISH 2008), XXIX Congress of the Brazilian Computer Society

  58. Schüler D, Namioka A (1993) Participatory design: principles and practices. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, USA

    Google Scholar 

  59. Stamper RK (1988) Analysing the cultural impact of a system. Int J Inf Manag 1988(8):107–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Stamper RK (1993) Social norms in requirements analysis – an outline of MEASUR. In: Jirotka M, Goguen J and Bickerton M (eds) Requirements engineering, technical and social aspects. Academic Press, New York, apud Liu K (2000) Semiotics in Information Systems Engineering. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

  61. Stamper RK, Althaus K, Backhouse J (1988) MEASUR: method for eliciting, analyzing and specifying user requirements. In: Olle TW, Verrijn-Stuart AA, Bhabuts L (eds) Computerized assistance during the information systems life cycle. Elsevier Science Publishers, North-Holland

    Google Scholar 

  62. Stamper R, Liu K, Hafkamp M, Ades Y (2000) Understanding the roles of signs and norms in organizations – a semiotic approach to information system design. Behav Inform Technol 19(1):15–27 Taylor & Francis

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Stephanidis C (2001) User interfaces for all: new perspectives into HCI. In: Stephanidis C (ed) User interfaces for all – concepts, methods and tools. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah

    Google Scholar 

  64. Stiemerling O, Kahler H, Wulf V (1997) How to make software softer – designing tailorable applications. In: Proceedings of the conference on designing interactive systems: processes, practices, methods, and techniques. Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp 365–376

  65. Torre I (2009) Adaptive systems in the era of the semantic and social web, a survey. User Model User-Adap Inter 19(5):433–486

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Veloso A, Costa L (2015) Social network games in an ageing society: co-designing online games with adults aged 50 and over, 2015 10th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (CISTI), Aveiro, 2015, pp 1–6

  67. Weiss JB, Berner ES, Johnson KB, Giuse DA, Murphy BA, Lorenzi NM (2013) Recommendations for the design, implementation and evaluation of social support in online communities, networks, and groups. J Biomed Inform 46(6):970–976

    Article  Google Scholar 

  68. Wyche S, Simiyu N, Othieno ME (2016) Mobile phones as amplifiers of social inequality among rural Kenyan women. ACM Trans Comput-Hum Interact. 23, 3, article 14 (June 2016), 19 pages

  69. Zouhaier L, Hlaoui YB, Ayed LJB (2013) Building adaptive accessible context-aware for user interface tailored to disable users, 2013 IEEE 37th annual computer software and applications conference workshops, Japan, 2013, pp. 157–162

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank all the participants for compromising and for their collaboration.

Funding

This work was funded by Microsoft Research - FAPESP Institute for IT Research and by FAPESP.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computing, Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, Brazil

    Vânia Paula de Almeida Neris, Tatiana Silva de Alencar & Luciano de Oliveira Neris

  2. Institute of Computing, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil

    Frederico Fortuna & M. Cecília C. Baranauskas

  3. Renato Archer Information Technology Center (CTI), Campinas, Brazil

    Rodrigo Bonacin

Authors
  1. Vânia Paula de Almeida Neris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Frederico Fortuna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rodrigo Bonacin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Tatiana Silva de Alencar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Luciano de Oliveira Neris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. M. Cecília C. Baranauskas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vânia Paula de Almeida Neris.

Additional information

The content of this paper was part of the first author’s thesis and the second author’s dissertation.

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

de Almeida Neris, V.P., Fortuna, F., Bonacin, R. et al. Addressing Brazilian diversity in personal computing systems with a tailoring-based approach. Pers Ubiquit Comput 25, 297–319 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-020-01444-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-020-01444-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation