"Designing Technology for Resource-Constrained Environments"

This fall we are offering a 1-credit reading seminar on technology in
resource-constrained environments. We'll focus on both projects in
developing countries as well as research that looks at resource-constrained
communities in developed countries (i.e., low-income communities, low
bandwidth environments, etc.). The seminar will meet Tuesdays from 1.30-2.30
in CSE 203 and it can be taken as either CSE 490 or HCDE 496.

The course will be coordinated by Ruth Anderson from CSE and Beth Kolko from
HCDE. The seminar will provide an introduction to the area of technology and
resource constrained environments by reading the basic papers in the area.
The format will be discussion, with discussion leaders responsible for
guiding a discussion (but not giving a full recap of the paper). There will
be no papers or tests.

This reading course is part of a year-long design and implementation course
that we encourage all students interested in the seminar to consider,
although the readings course can be taken on its own.

The year-long design and implementation sequence will be held jointly
between CSE and HCDE. It is open to ALL CSE and CS majors as well as
students from other departments. It will stretch over 3 quarters to make it
possible to more carefully consider projects and solutions. While our hope
is that students will sign up for all three quarters, it will be possible to
enroll in only one or two quarters.

The schedule will be:

- Fall: a reading seminar and exploration phase to become familiar with
unique constraints when designing for resource constrained environments.

- Winter: a design phase where students will be introduced to concepts of
HCI while designing solutions to problems (2-5 credits)

- Spring: an implementation phase to create robust prototypes (5 credits)

[more info on credits below]

We will be looking at problems in areas such as health care, agriculture,
transportation, and education that arise in the developing world and
resource-constrained regions of the developed world. Projects will involve a
variety of software design, user interface design, and web applications.

- User interfaces for ultrasound machines
- PDA/phone-based medical protocols for pediatric health tracking
- SMS-based transportation coordination
- Mash-ups to visualize medical data
- Connecting rural producers and urban consumers

If you are interested in the opportunity to design and implement technology
in a resource-constrained environment, consider the sequence below. RCEs
provide unique infrastructure, technical, and social constraints that demand
innovative design approaches. Students can join the project later in the
year, but we encourage year-long participation. By the end of the year,
interdisciplinary teams of students will have conducted fieldwork with
potential user populations, designed a technology to solve a community-based
problem, and implemented the solution. Most teams will have the opportunity
also to conduct an evaluation study of their implementation.

The course is open to all students. Projects will accommodate a wide range
of backgrounds. Final reports will be in the form of research
workshop/conference submissions - high-quality reports will be submitted for
publication.

Details on course numbers and credits are still being finalized, if you are
at all interested in the topic please show up to the first class and we can
discuss registration/credit options.  Here is a first cut:

Fall 2009 - CSE 490D/HCDE 496
This 1-credit seminar will meet Tuesdays from 1:30-2:30 in CSE 203 (Allen
Center).

Winter 2010 - CSE 490D/HCDE 419
Students may sign up for one of two options:
1) HCDE 419 - 5 credits, this HCI course will focus on design,
especially user research techniques, in resource constrained
environments.
2) CSE 490D - 2 credits, design studio to refine project ideas for
spring quarter.

Spring 2010 - CSE 490D
CSE 490d - 5 credits, may count as software capstone design credit for Comp
E. or CS, or as an approved senior elective for CS majors.

If you are at all interested in tackling some of the most difficult and
potentially impactful design problems, please attend our first meeting Tues
Oct 6th at 1:30-2:30 in CSE 203 to find out more.

To sign up for CSE 490D for the reading seminar, send email to
rea@cs.washington.edu and I'll send you an add code.

Ruth Anderson, CSE (rea@cs.washington.edu)
Beth Kolko, HCDE (bkolko@u.washington.edu)

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