Job description

This fully-funded, 4-year PhD position aims to move towards a longitudinal view of end-users in the context of personalized healthcare technology through meta-design.

The notion of temporality is gaining increasing importance in the field of healthcare design. For example, by acknowledging the changing needs of individuals as they progress through ageing and bodily decline, impacting not only themselves, but also their (support) environment (Foong 2016). In these contexts, where change of end-user needs is a given, developing technology on the basis of a static end-user model makes little sense.

Meta-design has been proposed as a conceptual framework for designing flexible systems that can adapt, or be adapted to the changing needs of end-users even after these systems have entered their ‘use-phase’ (Fischer 2010). Meta-design promotes the idea of ‘underdesign’, or ‘design for designers’, emphasizing on the notion that designers should not aim to deliver finished, closed systems to their end-users, but rather open-ended systems that allow end-users or ‘end-user designers’ to adapt or expand systems as their needs develop.

Despite meta-design being grounded in the assumption that “future uses and problems cannot be completely anticipated at design time” (Fischer 2010), the framework has yet to acquire traction in the field of healthcare design. One reason for that might be that meta-design does not provide an explicit vision of who the end-user actually is, it just assumes there are end-users whose needs and desires regarding a system will eventually change. It does not explicate how (meta-)designers could or should engage in the process of identifying and characterizing these end-users. As such, it does also not support explicating in what ways end-users’ needs might change over time. Without intimate knowledge of e.g., patients, caregivers, care paths, transitions that patients go through, etc., (meta‑)designers will be unable to design systems that properly anticipate on emerging future care needs.

At the same time, in professional practice there is a lot of in-depth, longitudinal knowledge about patients and caregivers. Also, adaptation of healthcare technology is commonplace in practice already, such as the creation and adaptation of assistive technology by non-professionals (Hook et al. 2014). Still, such adaptations are hardly ever envisioned nor supported by the original designers of these technologies, and become especially challenging to conduct by non-professional designers in the context of interactive technology (Tetteroo et al. 2015).

In short: there is a disconnect between theory and practice regarding the design of personalized healthcare technologies. Meta-design provides a framework to address the issue of changing end-user needs from a system perspective, but needs to be extended to incorporate a longitudinal view from an end user perspective.

This PhD project aims to expand meta-design theory with a nuanced, temporal perspective on end users as to make it fit for application in the context of personalized healthcare technology. Specifically, in this project you will conduct an ethnographic study amongst stakeholders involved in two care pathways with different temporal perspectives (towards recovery & towards increased need for care). The data collected through this study will be analyzed and synthesized into a format that supports (meta‑)designers in incorporating the temporal aspects of end-users in their design processes. Finally, the expanded meta-design framework will be applied to a case study in the design and evaluation of a personalized healthcare technology for longitudinal use.

Job requirements

A master's degree (or an equivalent university degree) in Design, Sociology, Psychology, Human-Technology Interaction or a related field.
Has an interest and/or experience in designing/researching in the domain of healthcare.
Strong emphatic skills, experience in conducting and analyzing ethnographic research.
Experience of and interest in working in diverse teams, with the ability to think across various disciplines.
The potential to publish academically or a track record of publications in design related research areas.
Ability to work independently and persistently tackle difficult research problems.
Strong communication skills, including proficiency in written and spoken English (C1).
Motivated to develop your teaching skills and coach Master students.

Conditions of employment

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate evaluation (go/no-go) after nine months. You will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks.
Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. €2,770 max. €3,539).
A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates.

Information and application

About us

Eindhoven University of Technology is an internationally top-ranking university in the Netherlands that combines scientific curiosity with a hands-on attitude. Our spirit of collaboration translates into an open culture and a top-five position in collaborating with advanced industries. Fundamental knowledge enables us to design solutions for the highly complex problems of today and tomorrow.
Information
Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more?
Please contact the hiring manager dr. Daniel Tetteroo, assistant professor d.tetteroo@tue.nl.

Visit our website for more information about the application process or the conditions of employment. You can also contact HR Services: HRServices.ID@tue.nl.

Are you inspired and would like to know more about working at TU/e? Please visit our career page.

Application

We invite you to submit a complete application by using the apply button.
The application should include a:

Cover letter in which you a) clearly indicate the position you are applying for and b) describe your motivation and qualifications for the position.
Curriculum vitae, including a list of your publications and the contact information of three references.
Brief description of your MSc. thesis, and include any associated published papers in PDF format where relevant.

We look forward to your application and will screen it as soon as we have received it. Screening will continue until the position has been filled.