Using an ecological framework to design mobile technologies for pediatric asthma management

Mobile technologies, due to their ubiquitous nature, play an important role in supporting health care. However, it is not easy to design useful integrated mobile services without a systematic understanding of users, and this is especially true for children. Therefore, we propose a new theoretical perspective for generating design concepts in the early stage of the design process. Our ecological model is based on Ecological Systems Theory which approaches development in terms of the child's relationships and environmental context. It leverages the fact that mobile technologies are deeply involved with users' circumstances. We argue that the ecological model can provide a heuristic to help researchers understand users' needs in context and generate concepts logically and creatively. Here we explore pediatric asthma management as a case study for this model. Finally, five promising mobile technology concepts are provided as examples for further development of mobile technologies related to pediatric asthma management.

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