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Lansdown Lecture:
+ Car technology - time for an IQ test?
+ Mike Bradley and Suzette Keith
+ Date: Wednesday 9 May 2007
+ Time: 5:45pm for one hour
+ Location: Middlesex University, London, EN4 8HT
Cat Hill Campus: Room 98.
This is the last Lansdown Lecture of the season. Admission is free.
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Car technology - time for an IQ test?
Designing and evaluating technology with older drivers - a pragmatic participation case study
Mike Bradley and Suzette Keith
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Ever wondered why some technology is so difficult to use? Ever thought you were being tested to
distraction by the technology that was supposed to be helping you? This talk will look at one way
of evaluating and designing technology for everyone to use - through participation of some of the
most demanding consumers around - older people. The MODAT project team - Product Design
and Engineering collaborating with Computing Science in this EPSRC/SPARC funded research
project investigating Advanced Technology and its relationship to the requirements and needs of
Older Drivers. The talk will centre around two case studies of participative research and design,
highlighting the opportunities and difficulties of this method.
About the speakers
Mike Bradley (PI) was Head of Human Factors at Ford of Europe, where he led the Third Age project
which resulted in the Third Age simulation suit, and was responsible for the Ergonomics of Ford of
Europe vehicles. He pioneered the concept of designing for older users within Ford, and trialled
the idea on the first Ford Focus. He is now a Senior Lecturer in Product Design and Engineering at
Middlesex, and the Principal Investigator on the MODAT project.
Suzette Keith is co-investigator on the project. She is a Research Fellow in the School of
Computing Science, Middlesex University and is active in the Interaction Design Centre and the
Design for All Research Group, promoting inclusive design practice and encouraging participation
by older and disabled people in the design of interactive information systems. She has published a
number of papers on the practical issues of designing and evaluating systems for usability and
accessibility, and the contextual issues of 'fit for purpose'. Previously she worked in industry as a
Human Factors Consultant to the telecommunications company ITT and the electronics company
Philips. She has an MSc Ergonomics and is a Fellow of the Ergonomics Society and member of the
HCI (Human Computer Interaction) and Disability groups of the BCS (British Computer Society).
For this last Lansdown Lecture of the season a glass of wine and other refreshment will be
available.
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Any enquires to Stephen Boyd Davis: [log in to unmask]
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Stephen Boyd Davis
Head, Lansdown Centre for Electronic Arts
Middlesex University, Cat Hill, Barnet, Herts EN4 8HT
United Kingdom
Tel 44 (0)20 8411 5072
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The Centre's Web Pages are at http://www.cea.mdx.ac.uk/
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