Design fictions: A tool for debating societal, legal and ethical aspects of personal and pervasive health systems

Emmanuel Tsekleves*, Andy Darby, Anna Whicher, Piotr Swiatek

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

The potential benefits offered by health-related technologies are counterpoised by the societal, legal and ethical challenges concomitant with the pervasive monitoring of people necessitated by such technological interventions. Through the ProtoPolicy research project we explored the production and use of design fictions as a tool for debating the societal, legal and ethical dimensions of personal health systems. Two design fictions were co-created and tested in a series of design workshops with community groups based in Lancashire and Cornwall, UK. A thematic analysis of a debate among older people from the Lancaster group on the Smart Object Therapist design fiction highlighted societal and ethical issues relevant to personal health system design. We conclude that ethics like “usability” may be usefully based on engagement with directly or indirectly implicated publics and should not be designed into innovation by experts alone.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationeHealth 360° - International Summit on eHealth, Revised Selected Papers
EditorsLaszlo Bokor, Frank Hopfgartner, Kostas Giokas
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages397-403
Number of pages7
ISBN (Print)9783319496542
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2016
EventInternational Summit on eHealth 360°, 2016 - Budapest, Hungary
Duration: 14 Jun 201616 Jun 2016

Publication series

NameLecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social-Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, LNICST
Volume181 LNICST
ISSN (Print)1867-8211

Conference

ConferenceInternational Summit on eHealth 360°, 2016
Country/TerritoryHungary
CityBudapest
Period14/06/1616/06/16

Keywords

  • Design fiction
  • Legal and ethics
  • Personal health systems
  • Pervasive healthcare
  • Speculative design

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