Craftec

Abstract

We present Craftec, an extendable toolkit system to engage older adults in maker technology by supporting their use of crafting skills. Craftec is comprised of LilyPad Arduino-based toolkits to promote easier crafting with hard and soft mediums. We describe the system's design, a pilot test with 8 younger adults, and 2 two-hour single session workshop evaluations by 17 older adults. We found Craftec facilitated efficient integration of circuits in crafted items, including fewer short circuits as compared to a basic LilyPad Arduino kit. We discuss how to create a toolkit for prototyping rather than facilitating STEM education.

Older Adults as Makers of Custom Electronics

“…We also needed to address a usability challenge -reading the small port labels. These insights and more reported in [6] informed our plan for improving Craftec in the next iteration.…”

“…The Craftec system ( Figure 1) is an electronic toolkit designed for older adults to create electronically enhanced devices using their crafting skills [6]. Craftec's first iteration included an Arduino, light sensor, and LED to investigate how older adults could integrate components into crafts.…”

“…We previously conducted a user evaluation of the first version of Craftec where we demonstrated its effectiveness as a tool for older adults to create crafted items [6]. The user evaluations were done with 17 older adults (10 women; 65-75 y.o.…”

“…They considered how to design future technologies. Therefore, we discuss the next iteration of Craftec [6] ( Figure 1) -an electronic toolkit for older adults to use crafting skills to create personalized devices. The first version [6] proved the concept and demonstrated the ability for older adults to create with it.…”

“…Therefore, we discuss the next iteration of Craftec [6] ( Figure 1) -an electronic toolkit for older adults to use crafting skills to create personalized devices. The first version [6] proved the concept and demonstrated the ability for older adults to create with it. We discuss the participatory design study and user evaluation that informed Craftec's next iteration that expands the creative capabilities.…”