Digital Life for the Elderly
Design for
Digital Technology, The Elderly
Year
2020-2021
The advance of technologies relates to the lives of the elderly and plays an important role in the ageing society. Although the use of digital technology among older adults has been increasing in the last decade, there is still a significant digital gap between the generations. Some older people are at risk of being left in this age of digitalization. To respond to the challenge, this dissertation project pays attention to the digital life for the elderly and a design proposal aiming to improve the learning experiences of smartphones is developed, which consists of two design interventions working together. One of them is the redesign of the interface of smartphones to reduce the level of difficulty for learning while the other one is a guide for learning that could be installed on smartphones to improve the efficiency of learning.
Insight
Do you think this project can be scaled up?
Yes. The design proposal has a great number of potential users. Although focusing on the learning experiences of older users, it is inclusive for other users too. Everyone who needs to use and learn smartphones more easily and quickly can be benefited from the design interventions. The companies, individuals and communities are also considered as part of the proposal, to get more people involved and bring the proposal into a wider prospect.
What was your biggest takeaway learning from this project?
In the past, I designed for people. In this project, I learned how to design with people. I learned to absorb their ideas and see from their perspectives.
What were the key methods that you used for this work?
In this work, I conducted a series of research and used methodologies of design thinking, participatory design, and inclusive design to develop design interventions.
Left to right: Image 3 Simplified Mode of Interfaces; Image 4 Guide App Framework; Image 5 Guide APP
