The Crucial Role of Cultural Probes in Participatory Design for and with Older Adults

Abstract

Software systems meant to support older adults often are not well accepted as they do not meet the expectations and requirements of the target group. An involvement of older adults in system design seems imperative. The project ParTec investigated and evaluated techniques for participatory software development with regard to their suitability for communication and equal cooperation with older adults. With a group of 15 retirees we developed concepts for an online neighbourhood platform. Using various participatory techniques researchers and participants developed a deep common understanding of everyday life in early retirement, determined requirements and co-created design ideas and concepts. We will show that the use of cultural probes with subsequent qualitative interviews forms an ideal starting point and a strong fundament for a participatory design process with older adults.

The Importance of User Involvement: A Systematic Review of Involving Older Users in Technology Design

“…One example is the study by Doroudian and colleagues (2018) , which explicates how the involvement of older people considerably improved the game design and content, and that their involvement in the design process made the game better tailored to their needs. In a similar fashion, other studies outline how the feedback provided by older users was substantial for the design outcome ( Gorkovenko, Tigwell, Norrie, Waite, & Herron, 2017 ) and significantly altered their design focus ( Maaß & Buchmüller, 2018 ). Furthermore, the study by Kopeć and colleagues (2018) indicates that involving older people at higher levels could improve the overall quality of the technology.…”

“…In the studies we reviewed, older people were involved at all of these different stages, but to different extents. Only four studies (10%) included older people at all three stages ( Joshi & Bratteteig, 2016 ; Kopeć et al, 2018 ; Maaß & Buchmüller, 2018 ; Righi et al, 2017 ). Twenty-five studies (62.5%) involved older users at two stages, and 11 studies (27.5%) involved them at one stage.…”

“…For example, Hakobyan and colleagues (2015) conclude that the involvement of older people led to a close relationship among the participants, and that the older people particularly appreciated the feeling of being part of a technologically advanced generation. Maaß and Buchmüller (2018) describe how the older adults valued their involvement in the design project of a digital neighborhood platform, as they felt being treated as an equal partner and expert on their own lives. Eftering and Frennert (2016) note that the older participants appreciated participating in the trials and fondly remembered it as a happy experience.…”

“…The experiences reported in the literature can be related to a heightened feeling of ownership among the older participants. As a result of the study by Maaß and Buchmüller (2018) mentioned above, it is explained how the older people became disappointed as they found out that the platform they jointly developed would not be implemented. According to the authors, the older people became so involved in the project that they forgot that the platform was only an exemplary idea.…”

“…For instance, Raviselvam and colleagues (2016) evaluated the acceptance of their redesigned tools based on the involvement of older people and found that 90% of older adults and 89% of younger people preferred the redesigned products over existing ones. Several other studies seem to take a positive stance towards the effect of involving older users in the technology’s ultimate acceptance (e.g., Johnson et al, 2014 ; Maaß & Buchmüller, 2018 ; Stein, Meurer, Boden, & Wulf, 2017 ; Wallisch et al, 2018 ). On the other hand, we also found multiple studies that cast doubt on the positive impact of older adults’ involvement on acceptance.…”