User-Centered Design and Older People: Introductory Considerations for Engaging Users

Abstract

Industry and researchers alike are becoming more aware of the need to put the user at the centre of their design models. At each stage the user should be included and consulted in order to design more acceptable, appropriate, and useful technologies. As engineers, we tend to develop technology in a lab to a specification that we assume is useful and perhaps even adhere to standards and guidelines. In this chapter, the lead engineer reports on experiences from a study assessing ‘universal design’ of technology in the homes of older people. These findings are largely experiential and are presented in order to foster an appreciation of the context of older people’s use of technology in the home; to encourage other designers and engineers to come outside of their traditionally prescribed scope and enter the realities of the older person’s home to assess technology use and germinate empathic design; and to outline practical methods and approaches as to how to implement home interviews and technology assessments.