Understanding Older Adults' (Dis)Engagement with Design Materials

Abstract

Design workshops are a popular approach to include older adults in the technology design process. However, formative design sessions with older adults have had unexpected outcomes such as the non-use of traditional design materials like craft-based prototyping supplies or disengagement from design activities. Analyzing the engagement of 32 older adults across two design workshops, this paper sheds insights on some of these outcomes. Contributing to a growing body of HCI research on understanding older adults' participation in design, we provide an understanding of how design materials can shape older adults' engagement in formative design activities. Our discussion furthers research on understanding who older adults design for and why, argues for a different understanding of creative expression, and offers considerations for choosing design materials.

Keywords: Older adults; co-design; design materials; design workshops; participatory design.

Figure 1:

IoT cards used in workshop 2: (a) Adapted object cards (b) Human action/input cards (c) Feedback/output cards

Figure 1:

Participants at Table C in workshop 1 (in order C2, C3, research assistant, C4), where C2 points to the camera: “if we are writing down, this isn’t doing anything. If we discuss it, it is recording us.”

Figure 2:

Participants engaging with the design materials to ideate: (a) A2-W2 is holding design cards of stove and refrigerator fanned out in her hand; (b) A2-W1 is holding a paper cut out of a mail box with a flappable door and was opening and closing the door.

Figure 3:

Representing and refining ideas: (a) B1-W1 twisting the paper to represent a tree; (b) B3-W1 is holding three pipe cleaners in a pyramid structure to resemble a tree; (c) B3-W1 holds a paper with a circular hole in the middle. She aligns the hole with the toolkit on the table; (d) The final artifact of the colour-changing tree. A pipe cleaner structure resembling a pyramid on is on a green colored paper with a transparent plastic bag right under the pyramid structure; (e) B4-W1 flapping the folded paper to mimic opening and closing of closet door.

Figure 4:

, (a) E5-W1 is holding the vector robot (b) E5-W1 then moves to hold the 360 camera. His hand almost covers the camera’s view. This 360 camera was a research artifact meant to record the participants’ actions.

Figure 5:

Participants using body as a design material: (a) with her hands up in the air and moving it slowly down, C2-W2 describes a projector screen that “could come down and go back. So you don’t have to see them the whole time, it’s just that when you want to look at your liEle ideas, you can pull it back.”; (b) A2-W1 uses hands to mimic check off action to describe an idea of checking off a list of things while leaving the house.

Figure 6:

Design materials creating friction in engagement and participation: (a) A5-W1 points to the colored paper and pipe cleaners on table and asks A2-W1 if he is “nervous” seeing them. (b) Holding a design card that says “Facebook”, D3-W1 says “I cannot relate to this at all”.