Close, intensive research collaboration between universities, companies, andthe public sector can open up new and different opportunities for qualitative research, and provide analytic and empirical insights that otherwise might bedifficult to obtain. The aim of this paper is to explore collaboration as a means of doing research with the intelligence community. Experiences from a research project concerning dilemmas the practitioners face in their organization within the Swedish Armed Forces, serve as a starting point for this reflective discussion. It is argued here that collaboration is suitable whenchange is required. The mutual learning between the actors feeds into change processes. However, such collaboration raises fundamental ethical issues that are complex and highlight various academic, institutional, and personal perspectives. Collaborations should not be a set of “how-to” recipes, but rather a research activity that can have substantial rewards for researchers and practitioners alike.

This paper highlights the important role that design plays when it comes to women’s overall experiences of ther gynaecological examination. It exemplifies how the examination can become renegotiable through the practice of a critical design. We will reflect this in the design of the contemporary gynaecological examination chair (GEC). We used women’s experiences as a starting point for the design of an Androchair (a conceptual male equivalent of the GEC), in order to make the experiences critically visible. Inspired by the view of the gynaecological examination as a performance where the Androchair is represented as a prop and was placed on a stage as a discussion object during a public seminar. The Androchair allowed for both critical and multiple readings of the GEC and through that, the gynaecology examination at large. Moreover, it stimulated a discussion about alternative ideas towards achieving a more positive experience.

In this paper we explore the use of a mobile video-conferencing tool (MVCT) in advanced home care of children. We present the results from a qualitative study where we have evaluated mobile video communication between the patient's home and the hospital unit. Our results show that mobile video enhances communication between home care teams and medical staff at the unit, makes more effective use of practitioners' time and that the equipment have additional values for staff that extend beyond video communication. Challenges identified are related to technical problems, limitations in the MVCT's design and the concern that the inability to handle problems may affect health care professionals' role as an authority. The benefits of the MVCT rely to a great extent on individual users' creativity and the willingness of key actors in the organization's management to find ways of improving the present home care format.

Teaching opera places high demands on audio-visual and physical aspects of the teaching situation and represents a small but internationally widespread and travel-dependent labour and education market. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential for establishing a video option and thereby reducing travel. A trial with opera master classes at a distance was carried out between Stockholm and Helsinki and the reactions of students and teachers were charted. The trial showed satisfactory lesson quality and keen interest among participants in gaining continuous access to this kind of distance education, mainly because of a strong mutual demand for renowned teachers and talented students. The study also investigated teaching under normal conditions (without an option for teaching at a distance). It was found that under both normal and trial conditions, the personal motivation of participants to participate in master classes was characterized by elements of desire and necessity. The desire component was linked to the aesthetic, creative and cooperative aspects of the art form and learning context, while the necessity component related to livelihood and career paths. A survey of the travel habits of some teachers and students indicated a relatively high frequency of travel by air or car to other regions and countries to participate in teaching etc., especially for the teachers. In light of these findings, introduction of technology for master classes and other similar teaching at a distance, e.g. between two or more Nordic opera colleges, could partially replace travel for teaching, but could also lead to more teaching of this kind, since it is in such a high demand. Overall positive environmental effects as well as positive effects on the quality of education could be expected by supplementing face-to-face with video-mediated teaching.

Transportation, or rather access, is a major challenge in relation to achieving environmental goals and in striving for sustainable development. One potential means suggested to decrease the environmental impact related to accessibility is mediated meetings. However, few studies have quantified the potential environmental impacts with a life cycle perspective. With inspiration from a project involving four major Swedish media companies experiencing an increasing need for business travel and decreasing resources, this study assessed the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and cumulative energy demand (CED) related to different types of business meetings, using a life cycle perspective. The potential consequences for emissions of GHG and CED in two hypothetical companies introducing mediated meetings were also assessed. The results indicated that mediated meetings using personal computers can reduce GHG emissions and CED per meeting and that more advanced mediated solutions are preferable to meetings which require travel, if the equipment is frequently used to replace travel. However, advanced technology that is under-used may give similar or higher GHG emissions and CED than meetings traveled to by train. All mediated meeting alternatives studied here had lower GHG emissions and CED than meetings which required travel by plane or car. LCD screen manufacture contributed the main environmental impact of mediated meetings, but the meeting rooms needed, electricity use for equipment and internet use for data transmission were also important in some cases. As LCD screen manufacture and internet energy use were main issues and as the data on these issues are uncertain, they should be further assessed+ and updated in future studies. Introduction of mediated meetings in companies and organizations should involve a thorough consideration of needs and possible solutions to achieve the best possible environmental benefits through efficient use and replacement of travel. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

People's domestic habits are increasingly being targeted to reduce levels of CO2 emissions. Whereas domestic energy consumption has received a lot of attention with several reported studies on sustainable practices, there are very few studies on workplace practices. Nevertheless, these are considered as having much potential for reducing energy consumption. This article presents the findings from two field studies where two different types of prototypes for visualizing energy use were designed, implemented and evaluated in different types of workplace settings - factories and offices. The studies used design probes to explore how visual feedback for electricity use was interpreted and acted upon by employees in work settings. A striking observation was that it is very difficult to get people to change to more pro-environmental behavior and practices in a workplace environment. The article discusses why this might be the case.

This article looks at some common assumptions and associated work practices within a military intelligence community. There intelligence practitioners use the term raw data as a common sense category, as a word that describes information they want or have gained access to. The practical and organizational processes that inform the construction of the term raw data are unpacked here. Examples presented are based on interviews, field observations, and document reviews. Theoretical descriptions and models of work, for example, the intelligence cycle, construction, and the use of computer databases, assume that work in this community starts with raw data. However, this data has already been (prior) processed by the work practices, political, practical, and other decisions even before data collection occurs. The technology and attendant categories and practices instrumentalize a certain world view. The model used frames not just the collection and organization of the institution's knowledge but those categories that inform how this institution organizes, legitimizes, and enacts its work, data, and knowledge. Given the kinds of opponents nations have to face today, intelligence practitioners and those who study their work have to understand practice, action, and contexts often quite different from ones own.

This article highlights how a gender perspective can be performed by design as critical practice. Two common household appliances – a drill and a hand blender – were used as a starting point. Inspired by Derrida’s term deconstruction, the product language of the tools was analysed and then switched in two new prototypes: the hand blender Mega Hurricane Mixer and the drill Dolphia. The prototypes were shown at exhibitions and lectures. The comments by the audience show that a switching of product language entails that their relationship to the artefact itself also changes. Overall, the elements, which previously had been perceived as ‘lacking transparency’, were now visible. For example, the drill was identified as a "drill for women" and considered inadequate for drilling, and the mixer revealed needs and functions that the traditional mixer did not satisfy. This implies that design should not only be seen as ‘final products’ but as a part of a social process that takes place between the user, the artefact and the norms of society. By switching the product languages it was possible to highlight how gender values are connected to each design and each artefact. This means that the design of the artefacts around us is not fixed, but can be renegotiated and situated in time, place, and context.

Although digital artefacts constitute a fundamental part of thecontemporary lifestyle it is seldom discussed how the use of such objects affect the way we understand the world. We propose a new concept, norm-­critical design, in which the unit of analysis is the interaction design consisting of technology, interaction, images, sounds, text and how they together construct meaning. We argue that there is a need to unpack how digital design embeds norms and to examine how the relationship between norms and design can becritically examined. We base our discussion on studies of online youth counselling.