From Guinea Pigs to Design Partners: Working with Older People in ICT Design

Actively engaging older adults in the development and evaluation of tablet technology

“…Responding to these challenges, many researchers have reflected on their experiences of designing technologies for older users and outlined their suggestions for suitable approaches to follow (e.g., Dewsbury et al, 2007;Edlin-White et al, 2012;Eisma et al, 2003;Lindsay et al, 2012;Massimi et al, 2007;Vines et al, 2012). While these studies are broadly informative about methodological issues to consider when designing for older people, they vary greatly in terms of the technology concepts that they aim to develop.…”

“…There are studies, for instance, that gathered input from users into the design of new banking technologies for older people Vines et al, 2012), while another study focused on the development of mobile phones for older users (Massimi et al, 2007). Other projects have focused on the development of health technologies (e.g., Edlin-White et al, 2012), while others have had broader aims, using input from participants to steer the direction of the technology development project (e.g., Dewsbury et al, 2007). These varied aims make it difficult to extrapolate general lessons that are relevant to other design contexts.…”

MyUI

“…A main result of this study was that it was very hard to get feedback on the specific concept of adaptation. Older persons with low ICT literacy seem to have difficulties in understanding and recognizing system-initiated adaptations at all [9]. This finding challenges the overall concept of adaptive and accessible interfaces for a major target user group of MyUI.…”

Methods for Supporting Older Users in Communicating Their Emotions at Different Phases of a Living Lab Project

“…A process of mutual learning for both designers and users can inform all participants' capacities to envisage future technologies and the practices in which they can be embedded" (Robertson & Simonsen, 2012). However, recent literature has recognized the challenge of actively engaging older adults in design processes and have come up with methods to do this (Edlin-White et al, 2012;Lindsay et al, 2012;Vines et al, 2012;Waycott et al, 2012;Waycott et al, 2013). What we contribute here is a means to specifically integrate emotions in a co-creative living lab process.…”