Why the world needs interaction design to help solve urgent societal issues
When you ask Jodi Forlizzi what her typical day looks like, she humbly answers: “I use skills from interaction design and systems design to both conduct design research and manage an organization.” But, what her research is uncovering has the potential to significantly impact healthcare and other societal policies.
Jodi studied Interaction Design as a Master’s student at Carnegie Mellon University, holds a self-defined PhD in Design and Human Computer Interaction (HCI) from CMU, and been teaching interaction design for almost 20 years there. She is the Geschke Professor and Director of the HCI Institute, and her current research interests include designing educational games that are engaging and effective; designing robots, agents, AVs, and other technology services that use AI and machine learning to adapt to people’s needs; and designing for healthcare. Jodi received an honorary doctorate from TU Eindhoven in Artificial Intelligence and Design. She also likes classic cars. You can follow her on Twitter and learn more on her website.
Tell us about your healthcare projects.
Healthcare is a system undergoing rapid change in the US. Our country is facing increasing costs, less healthcare coverage, and decreasing quality in health care. We have increasing numbers of elders needing assistance, and individuals struggling to provide this care without adequate resources. At the same time, the internet, mobile and cloud computing have empowered people to track their health care data and take agency in managing their care and the care of others.
Healthcare is a place for wicked problems; stakeholders can’t agree on the solutions because they can’t agree on the problems. Exceedingly, HCI is being invited to healthcare; healthcare needs HCI.
One of my current projects uses lightweight sensing, natural language processing, machine learning, and interaction design to help scaffold caregivers who perform procedures like changing bandages and wound suctioning in home care settings. This technology can sense if caregivers are following recommended procedures, and predict where they are likely to make an error, often preventing a patient from admission into the hospital.
It looks like you’ve explored robotics in this area as well.
Yes, my research in this area ranges from designing robots to assist elders and caregivers in homes and institutions, to designing Human Robot Interaction (HRI) for robots that can be touched and pushed, to designing interfaces and behaviors for medical robots and robot swarms. For example, one system I am helping to design is a feeding system that is customizable and programmable in about two hours with an Android phone. This creates the opportunity to create a feeding device that fits in one’s physical and social setting, and minimizes stigma.
You’ve stated that “it is no longer sufficient to practice user-centered design, with its focus on the development of one computational product to serve the needs of a single user.” What are you calling for interaction designers to do?
Interaction designers need to adopt a larger, more holistic view of problems and the solutions that might be developed to address them.
In the past decade, many dire societal problems have arisen, including the global aging of our population and climate change due to increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Society is fractioning as people fail to heed environmental warning signs or consider the needs of the current and future generations. These problems are not simple problems — they are systems of problems, or what Herb Simon called “wicked problems” and Russell Ackoff simply dubbed “messes”.
The discipline of interaction design needs to change in response to these demands.
