Design research helps develop more useful mobile services
27.03.2014
Studying real life makes it possible to design more innovative mobile applications which can be of concrete benefit to people in their daily lives.
In his doctoral dissertation for the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Batsirai Chivhanga examines how research into design can be applied in developing the production of mobile content services.
‘The use and demand for mobile applications has grown alongside that for smartphones. For instance, in Africa, various applications are used for the achievement of development goals. However, many unrealised possibilities still exist in the utilisation of these services - for example, as part of the activities of organisations,’ Chivhanga says.
Chivhanga developed a design research approach with the name Mobile Phone Transformation (MPT). With its help it is possible to evaluate the needs linked with mobile services before the actual design takes place. In practice this happens, for instance, by observing or interviewing the target users of the service, or by carefully sniffing out future developments in technology.
‘On the basis of data collected from real life, it is possible to design more innovative applications and features for mobile telephones which serve the real needs of the target group. The MPT model can be used by organisations when there is a need to design apps that support their core activities.’
According to the dissertation, mobile applications that are planned based on the needs of the users - that is, for their benefit - make it possible, for instance, to bring about new, more efficient ways to deal with daily tasks.
‘The tools and software that I have developed can have transformational effects in the use of the target audiences,’ Chivihanga explains.
Multidisciplinary approach tested in practice
Concepts in the background of the Mobile Phone Transformations approach are derived from different areas of science, such as activity theory, information theory, and design and future research.
‘The concepts also work on their own as benchmarks for design - they can be used as a barometer when evaluating the impact of mobile applications,’ Chivhanga says.
The approach was tested in a practical research project, MobiLeap, which was implemented in Finland and Estonia in 2006-2007. The purpose of the project was to evaluate the use of multimedia telephones by young people, and especially the features designed for searching and collecting content.
Defence of dissertation
The doctoral dissertation ‘Designing Beneficial Mobile Content Services: Sourcing Design Ideas from Real Life’ will be examined at the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture on Friday, 4 April 2014 at 12:00 noon in the Sampo auditorium at the Lume Media Centre, Hämeentie 135 C, Helsinki. Serving as opponent will be Senior Lecturer, Ph.D. Stephen Andrew Roberts (University of West London). Orders for the thesis can be made through the online bookstore of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture: books.aalto.fi, enquiries: artsbooks [at] aalto [dot] fi
Further information:
Batsirai Chivhanga
Tel. +358 46 906 9957
batsirai.chivhanga [at] aalto [dot] fi