It Takes More Than One Hand to Clap: On Sustaining Research Results and Co-Designed Artefacts After the Project Ends

Title of the Paper

It Takes More Than One Hand to Clap: On the Role of ‘Care’ in Maintaining Design Results

Bibliographic Information

• Authors: Max Krüger, Anne Weibert, Débora de Castro Leal, Dave Randall, Volker Wulf
• Institution: Universität Siegen
• Publication Date: 2021
• Conference Name: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’21)
• Research Domain: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
• Keywords: Sustainability, Migration, Care, Maintenance, Co-Design, Participatory Design

Research Background and Problem Statement

• Identified Issues or Challenges:

  • The authors identify a core challenge in co-design: how to sustain and maintain the designed outcomes (e.g., technological tools and digital resources) after project completion.
  • Supporting migrants and refugees is a significant social issue that requires sustainable solutions.
  • Current research lacks sufficient exploration of project sustainability and maintenance, with most studies focusing on the development phase rather than post-project continuity.

• Significance:

  • Effective project maintenance ensures that design outcomes continue to benefit the target groups, avoiding resource waste.
  • Supporting migrants in integrating into new societies, especially refugees facing barriers in German immigration policies, is increasingly complex and critical.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  • The HCI community has recently focused on social justice and sustainable development. This paper aims to expand related research by exploring possibilities for sustaining technological outcomes.
  • The authors draw on literature related to "ethics of care" and "technical maintenance," arguing that maintenance is not merely a technical activity but an ethical practice.
  • The project is based on a three-year co-design process in two cities in western Germany, developing tools for migrants (e.g., language course search, city navigation, career development support).

Proposed Solution

• Methods or Solutions Proposed:

  • The project adopts participatory design methods, collaborating with diverse groups (including migrants, volunteers, and professionals) to co-develop technological tools.
  • The authors emphasize the importance of pre-existing care practices (e.g., volunteer support) as a social foundation for maintaining technological outcomes.
  • Technological choices (e.g., WordPress platform) prioritize maintainability, while education and knowledge transfer enhance users' technical capabilities.

• Innovative Aspects:

  • Understanding technical maintenance from the perspective of "care," treating maintenance as an ethical act rather than merely a procedural task.
  • Integrating existing community care practices into technical maintenance activities to ensure project sustainability.
  • Highlighting the impact of multi-role collaboration and heterogeneous relationships within the community on project operation.

• Implementation Steps and Key Technologies:

  1. Develop tools using WordPress to enhance maintenance convenience.
  2. Organize user training sessions and create detailed operation manuals to improve collaborators' technical skills.
  3. Before project completion, transfer technological outcomes to community organizations (NGOs) and sign legal agreements to allocate maintenance responsibilities.
  4. Maintain project flexibility by adjusting design goals based on community feedback, such as adding functionality for volunteers.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Results:

  • Two cities (City A and City B) established WordPress-based websites to support migrants, refugees, and their volunteers.
  • Website content and tool functionalities continue to be utilized by local NGOs and volunteers, providing timely and useful information.
  • Approximately 70-80 daily users were attracted, demonstrating the project's practical value.

• Advantages Compared to Existing Solutions:

  • Combining community collaboration with care practices facilitates the transfer of maintenance responsibilities, enhancing the sustainability of design outcomes.
  • The authors focus particularly on the social foundation for sustaining technological outcomes, rather than solely relying on technical feasibility.
  • INGOs and local volunteers formed a robust cooperative network, better understanding and addressing the needs of the target population.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  • Website maintenance has continued for over two years, with stable usage rates.
  • NGOs and government staff resolved initial technical and legal challenges through regular editorial team meetings and clear role assignments.
  • Data shows that the websites extensively utilized local support resources, improving migrants' access to language courses and career opportunities.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Limitations:

    • Migrants' actual participation in website design or subsequent maintenance was low, potentially leading to unmet needs for this group.
    • Heterogeneous relationships and care practices within the community may exacerbate existing inequalities, requiring further examination of power dynamics.
    • Current support cannot address systemic issues at the level of national policies and immigration regulations.

  • Future Directions:

    • Explore how to transform design outcomes into essential tools for migrants' practical operations, rather than merely auxiliary resources.
    • Conduct in-depth research on achieving sustainable technical maintenance, especially under limited funding and resource conditions.
    • Establish more supportive policies and mechanisms to incorporate HCI project outcomes into long-term solutions for social issues.