End user programming and context responsiveness in handheld prompting systems for persons with cognitive disabilities and caregivers

Abstract

Providing instructions via handheld prompters holds much promise for supporting independence for persons with cognitive disabilities. Because users of these tools are paired - caregivers who make scripts and a person with cognitive disabilities who uses them - designing such a system presents unique meta-design problems. The problems of changing content and configuration on a handheld computer, as needs and abilities change of the users with cognitive disabilities, produce a critical need for end-user programming tools. This paper describes the design and testing of the MAPS (Memory Aiding Prompting System) system, consisting of a handheld prompter and a multimedia editing tool for script creation, storage, and modification. The unique meta-design challenges of supporting end-user programming of context-responsive systems, and its broader implications, are presented.