CO-DESIGNING WITH THE AGING POPULATION

A sensory companion designed to stimulate engagement and activity in aging adults who live independently.

Client/Collaborators
Graduate Project

Company/Partner(s)
Kay, 87 year old

Approach
Exploratory/Generative Research Through CoDesign, Secondary Research

Methods/Tools
One-on-one interviewing, Rhino CAD

OBJECTIVE

Understand the unmet needs of aging/elderly adults and explore, with them, new solutions/possibilities.

OUTCOME

My goal was to develop a concept for an unobtrusive device that provokes enjoyment, encourages mind and body activity, provides a sense of companionship to the elderly user in the home, and provides a sense of comfort/peace of mind to the caregiver. 

The Sensory Companion utilizes ‘intelligent assistant’ and sensory technology to interact with people like Kay on multiple levels: sight, sound, and touch. 

The smooth shape and wooden material was chosen for its simplicity, familiarity, and warmth. 

PROCESS

Research and Interview

Background research was conducted on the needs of aging adults; the movie Alive Inside inspired the idea to explore sensory solutions. I sat down and interviewed Kay, a very active 89 year old who gardens, volunteers, and does chair exercises. The concept of CoDesign was hard for Kay to wrap her head around so instead we worked through what a typical day is like for her, what she struggles with and what she enjoys. This led to a problem statement we both wanted to solve:

How do you get older people to become more active around their house?

Design

The concept for the sensory companion came from synthesizing findings across my research and from my discussion with Kay.