USING FICTIONAL CHARACTERS AS STUDENTS’ ALTER- EGOS IN PARTICIPATORY DESIGN SESSIONS

George Triantafyllakos
Department of Informatics
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Greece

George Palaigeorgiou
Department of Industrial Informatics
T.E.I. Kavalas
Greece

Ioannis A. Tsoukalas
Department of Informatics
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Greece

The paper describes a novel approach to collaborative design of educational software, one that is based on the use of fictional characters (we introduce the idea of design alter egos) as a means towards eliciting and understanding students’ requirements. Through the presentation of the design process, a case study application for the design of a course website and a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the results the paper’s aim is to suggest the use of design alter egos as an appropriate, effective and efficient means of co-designing educational software with students.

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