ServDes 2016

2. Democracy and Design
in Swedish Personal Assistance
ServDes. 2016
Service design & Innovation
Conference
May 26, 2016
John Magnus Roos
Researcher, Design Psychologist
Magnus.roos@veryday.com
Phone (+46 73 048 22 27)

3. 3
User-Centered Design
in Swedish Personal Assistance
ServDes. 2016
User-Centered = Democracy

4. 4
Personal assistance = The ultimate service
• Designing yourself
• Live as other’s do
• Full human experience
ServDes. 2016
Background

5. 5
User Pyramid
Basic
needs
ServDes. 2016
Daily Life
Human Life /
Full Human Experience
• Personal hygiene
• Meals
• Dressing
• Communication
• Workinglife
• Family life
• Household activities
• Well-being
• Love
• Leisure activities
• Social life
Background

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Background
ServDes. 2016
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

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Background
ServDes. 2016
• Public (municipality)
• Private firm
• User-cooperatives
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

8. 8
Explore what users desire of
their service providers and
how the assistance could be
improved.
ServDes. 2016
Purpose

9. 9
Research Design:
Qualitative interviews with 12 adult users.
Participants Gender: 8 female, 4 male
Age: 21-64 years, (M=47)
Service provider: 3 public, 4 user-cooperatives, 5 private firms
Time per interview: 45-80 minutes.
ServDes. 2016
Method

10. 10
Interview questions:
• In your opinion, what does personal assistance imply?
• What is quality related to service provider of personal
assistance?
• What do you want of a service provider of personal
assistance?
• What is characteristic of a good service provider?
• What is characteristic of a bad service provider?
• Do you find your service provider lacking in any way?
ServDes. 2016
Method

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Result
ServDes. 2016
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

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Result
ServDes. 2016
1. User-minded
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

13. 13
User-minded
• Caring about the user
• Empowering the user
• Supporting the user when the user asks for a favour
• Providing assistants in all situations
• Arranging social activities for users
• Reducing the workload related to personal assistants
• Covering extra costs related to personal assistants
• Arranging training for users/legal guardians
• Providing a limited number of assistants to the specific user
ServDes. 2016
Result

14. 14
User-minded - Caring about the user
In the past, a representative of my service provider always passed by with a
present for Christmas, which in itself is very nice. But last Christmas, the
service provider sent the present and seasonal greetings through a personal
assistant. I would like the contact person to wish me a Merry Christmas her- or
himself, at least on the telephone. It is neither about the present nor the
seasonal greetings. It is about being treated as a valuable person, that you are
somebody. I feel sorry for my service provider, that they do not understand
better.”
ServDes. 2016
Result
”

15. 15
User-minded - Empowering the user
The representative of the service provider forced me to sign a paper, stating
that the assistants can stop me from eating food which is not mixed and
ground, because I am not able to chew. But instead of explaining in a normal
way, the person just put the paper on the desk and tapped the dotted line
twice. “Sign it, you have to sign it”, the person said, instead of explaining what
it was about.”
ServDes. 2016
Result
”

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Result
ServDes. 2016
1. User-minded
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

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Result
ServDes. 2016
1. User-minded2. Assistant-minded
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

18. 18
Assistant-minded
• Arranging training for personal assistants
• Providing good administrative conditions of
employment
• Arranging support for personal assistants.
• Providing instrumental rules and instructions for
personal assistants
ServDes. 2016
Result

19. 19
Assistant-minded - Good conditions
The service provider must have good working conditions for their assistants.
The provider should be afraid of loosing them. Everything that contributes to
the dissatisfaction of the assistants will also influence me. If the assistants are
not pleased, they can quit working here. They must be pleased so they like to
come to my home and work.”
ServDes. 2016
Result
”

20. 20
Assistant-minded - Arranging support
During the autumn I have felt very low. I have quarreled with the medical
service, I have quit all social activities, I even thought that I did not want to live
anymore. The situation must have been frightful for my assistants. It must have
been terrible for the assistants to be in such an environment. During this critical
period, the service provider should have given support to my assistants,
because I was not strong enough to give them sufficient support.”
ServDes. 2016
Result
”

21. 21
Assistant-minded - Providing rules and instructions
I would like the service provider to have more rules for personal assistants. I
have heard that they [personal assistants] sometimes carry paving stones in
the garden. The service provider must clarify what you can expect from your
personal assistants.”
ServDes. 2016
Result
”

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Result
ServDes. 2016
1. User-minded2. Assistant-minded
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

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Result
ServDes. 2016
1. User-minded2. Assistant-minded
3. Mediating
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

24. 24
Mediating
• Arranging meetings
• Handling conflicts
ServDes. 2016
Result

25. 25
Mediating – Handling conflicts
I have neither the strength nor the desire to handle a conflict between me and
my assistants. It shouldn’t be up to me, it is the service provider who should
look after their staff.”
ServDes. 2016
Result
”

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Result
ServDes. 2016
1. User-minded2. Assistant-minded
3. Mediating
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

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Result
ServDes. 2016
1. User-minded2. Assistant-minded
3. Mediating
4. Ideology
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

28. 28
Ideology
• Following the legal framework of personal assistance
• Having the user´s well-being as first priority
• Personalized support and service
ServDes. 2016
Result

29. 29
Ideology
The service provider should not practice assistance by coincidence. They
should know what they are doing. They must have an ideology which is deeply
rooted in the whole organization.”
ServDes. 2016
Result
”

30. 30
Ideology – Following the legal framework
The most important thing is that a service provider has a clear understanding of
what personal assistance is and how important it is for all users. It is a reform,
which could be gone tomorrow. You have to treat it with that in mind. You can’t
just take the assistance money and go to the Bahamas, jeopardizing the entire
reform. You just don’t do that. What is difficult for people [people without
disability] to understand is that a careless act on the part of the service provider
representative will only lead to that particular person being fined or sanction in
some other way, whereas the life of all the users will be ruined. The difference
is enormous”
ServDes. 2016
Result
”

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Result
ServDes. 2016
1. User-minded2. Assistant-minded
3. Mediating
4. Ideology
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

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Result
ServDes. 2016
1. User-minded2. Assistant-minded
3.
Mediating
Society
4. Ideology
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

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Result
ServDes. 2016
1. User-minded2. Assistant-minded
3.
Mediating
5. Politically
Society
4. Ideology
UserPersonal assistants
Service provider

34. 34
Politically
• Informing the user what is happening
• Defend the institution of personal assistance at
a political level
ServDes. 2016
Result

35. 35
Politically – Defending personal assistance
I would like the service provider to work close to the government and
the parliament and try to prevent reductions related to personal
assistance. The service provider should fight for the rights of people
with disabilities. It is hard for the user and the user’s family to fight for
the user’s right.”
ServDes. 2016
Result
”

36. 36
The design challenge
ServDes. 2016
Result
• Create ”Open Empathy Organizations”
Empathy is the ability to step outside yourself
and see the world as other people do” Dev Patnaik
• Clarify what your assistance is about. Use
explicit documents. For instance define your
ideology, have clear rules and instructions for
personal assistants, be as transparent as
possible.
• React fast.
• Empowering the user.
• Arrange social activities.
• Planning, Scheduling
• Fight for the right of the users
”

37. 37
The design challenge
ServDes. 2016
Result
Concrete things: Training of staff, personal assistants and users.
Recruitment process
Contact persons
Nische markets? (should a service provider focus on satisfying specific needs)

38. 38
M A G N U S . R O O S @ V E R Y D A Y . C O M
S T O C K H O L M / N E W Y O R K / L O N D O N / S H A N G H A I / D U B A I / V E R Y D A Y . C O M