Micro-adjustments in design process

I see micro-adjustments(m-a) as a way to sensitize design practices rather than a complete restructuring of processes. I can demonstrate how can we go from abstract ASD meta qualities to a kind of checklist to more concrete micro-adjustments.

Here are some micro-adjustments in design process that can be useful for informing the formulation of ASD micro-adjustments. they are not directly related with the agency sensitive design but they will demonstrate how I can define or formulate such micro-adjustments. The suggestions as micro-adjustments for kind of best practices were taken from Designing Interactive Systems book by David Benyon.

i) Understanding Phase: 

• Prioritizing requirements: || - must have, - should have, - could have and - want to have. (m-a by setting an adjective and categorizing)
• Acting out requirements: || a technique requires designers to work with a script writer t odevelop a short stage play based on the requirements that have been generated. This is acted out by trained actors with the stakeholders making up the audience. This is followed by a discussion helping to provide a rich understanding of the hopes, fears and concerns of the people. (m-a by introducing an additional activity right after an existing activity.)
• Improving questionnaires: || -specific questions better than general ones, || - closed questions are usually preferable to open questions, || - consider a "no-opinion" option, || - appearance, order and instructions are vital, || -add introductory and concluding notes, || - make return easy. (m-a by suggesting a particular type of alternative against the others. // m-a by adding an extra option,  // m-a by showing the importance of an existing way of doing things in a more careful way, // m-a by making some tasks or activities easier for participants)
• Improving workplace ethnography: || - most can be gained in the early stages when the main design issues are unclear, || - most information is gained where people collaborate in some observable way, and share information and artifacts in real time, || -multiple analysts can be valuable, - video and audio recording is valuable in capturing data, but field notes remain vital. (m-a by pointing out the importance of an existing activity and its order in time, // m-a by describing a particular activity to obtain a common need/information for design, // m-a by including additional actors )

ii) Envisionment Phase:

• Improving prototyping: ||- allow easy and rapid modification of interface details and functionality, ||- for designers who are not programmers allow direct manipulation of prototype components, || - facilitate reuse of code, ||- not constrain the designer to default styles for interface objects. (m-a by modifying an existing functionality, m-a by considering different types of co-designers and addressing their needs, m-a by offering alternatives for defaults)

iii) Design Phase:

• Conceptual  design using scenarios: || - complement the scenarios with some of the more visual envisioning techniques, - think hard about underlying assumptions, ||  - include good characterization and develop a number of personas, || - provide a rich contextual background, this grounds design decisions in real life, forcing the designer to think about practicality and acceptability (m-a by supplementing an existing technique with materials in different modality, - m-a by rethinking the assumptions carefully, m-a by making available the real life context info,)

// m-a by setting an adjective and categorizing
// m-a by introducing an additional activity right after an existing activity
// m-a by suggesting a particular type of alternative against the others
// m-a by adding an extra option
// m-a by showing the importance of an existing way of doing things in a more careful way
// m-a by making some tasks or activities easier for participants
// m-a by pointing out the importance of an existing activity and its order in time
// m-a by describing a particular activity to obtain a common need/information for design
// m-a by including additional actors 
// m-a by modifying an existing functionality
// m-a by considering different types of co-designers and addressing their needs
// m-a by offering alternatives for defaults
// m-a by supplementing an existing technique with materials in different modality
// m-a by rethinking the assumptions carefully
// m-a by making available the real life context info