From guinea pigs to design partners: working with older people in ICT design

Edlin-White, Rob, Cobb, Sue, Floyde, Anne, Lewthwaite, Sarah, Wang, Jing and Riedel, Johann (2012) From guinea pigs to design partners: working with older people in ICT design. In, Langdon, P., Clarkson, J., Robinson, P., Lazar, J. and Heylighen, A. (eds.) Designing Inclusive Systems: Designing Inclusion for Real-world Applications. Springer, pp. 155-164. (doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-2867-0_16).

Abstract

Governments worldwide are recognising the reality and challenges of aging societies. Aging is often accompanied by increased incidence of impairments in the physio-motor, sensory and cognitive domains, as well as health problems, reduced socialisation, poorer finances, reduced sense of purpose and sometimes marginalisation from society. Technology can be very beneficial for older people but is too often problematical, sometimes creating digital exclusion. Researchers and funding bodies are beginning to focus specifically on the ICT needs of older people, and excellent work is being conducted, but as yet research methods and models of engagement for working with older people are fragmentary or at an early stage of development. This paper explores methods and approaches currently used in HCI research with older users, and those used by the authors in the MyUI European research project, and presents a list of themes which the authors believe will be relevant to other work in the area and could inform a more consistent methodology.

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Contributors

Author: Sarah Lewthwaite

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