Painting the ideal home: using art to express visions of technologically supported independent living for older people in north-east England

Abstract

In this paper we describe our experience of investigating the development of future technological products to support older people in everyday living through the agency of a community art group. Recent research has identified a number of challenges facing designers seeking to use traditional participatory design approaches to gather technology requirements data from older people. We describe a project that sought to get a group of older people to think creatively about their needs and desires for technological support through the medium of paint. The artistic expression technique described in this article allowed us to identify issues that had also been found by previous research that used a range of different techniques. This indicates that the approach shows promise as it allows information to be gathered in an environment that is comfortable and familiar using methods already known by the participants and which they find enjoyable. It provides a complement (or possible alternative) to standard protocols and has the potential benefit of extracting even richer information as the primary task for participants is enjoyable in its own right and is not associated with an interrogative process. Furthermore, it is argued that some of the key risks of traditional approaches are lessened or removed by the naturalistic setting of this project.

The Easyline+ project: evaluation of a user interface developed to enhance independent living of elderly and disabled people

“…Such issues have been highlighted in the past, particularly by [18]. Alternative solutions have been successful, for example where trained performers role-play elderly adults [19] and where art has been used to enable elderly people to articulate their vision of future home environments [27]. However, a recognized drawback of these approaches is that they too can be expensive and time-consuming.…”

Material Immaterialized

“…While this "user involvement" is understood quite differently throughout applied design, computing sciences, and social sciences, insufficient understanding of people's motivations and needs in housing is explained as being one of the reasons for a poor up-take of the idea of the "smart home." As Vickers, Banwell, and Heaford (2008) explain, User interface design has tended to rely on cognitive science models as a means for designing effective interfaces; . .…”

“…That is to say, it has been recognized that effective design requires an understanding of the context of use of computer systems, since all computer use is situated within a social and cultural context. (p. 2) By ethnographic evidence, I would even extend the view of Vickers et al (2008) by asserting that research on ageing and the use of products and services should not only include social and cultural context in general but also put an emphasis on temporality. Thus, housing can be understood as a succession of moves from one life stage to another, as a progression of life events that have consequences on interior design preferences and needs-a focus on change versus continuity in the process of getting older seems fruitful.…”