The Sense Making
The Framework
Participatory methods were used to rank the user needs identified to determine which are to be included and excluded from the Product Design Specification.
A Value Opportunity analysis and Kano analysis was conducted with a young elderly individual and a supporting family member to an individual aging in place. The participants were given a brief overview of the proposed project outcome which described the design as a tool that:
Is located within the home of an individual aging in place
Has minimal set up and upkeep requirements
Acknowledges when an individual aging in place is active (moving) within their home
Encourages communication between the individual aging in place and their family/community members
Notifies select family/community members when an individual aging in place is inactive for a prolonged period of time
May share healthcare information with healthcare professionals
Is empowering to all who engage with the product
A value opportunity analysis was performed to predict the success (or failure) of the product by focusing on the user's point of view.
The participants were asked within a non-formal interview setting "Based on the description of the design, how do you rank (high, medium or low) whether the proposed product offers you *insert adjective being assessed* ?".
This analysis revealed that there is significant potential for the proposed design outcome to align with an individual aging in place's and a support family/community member's idealised healthcare vision.
A Kano analysis was performed to comprehend how a user's emotional response to product features may be measured.
The participants were asked within a non-formal interview setting "Based on the description of attribute *insert attribute number*, how do you rank the customer satisfaction (delighted, satisfied, neutral, dissatisfied, frustrated) and function (best, good, basic, some, none) delivered to you?".
The Kano Analysis demonstrates that the threshold attributes, which range from a functional score of 4-5 and a customer satisfaction score of 3-5, deliver elderly individuals and their support community with a highly functional and very satisfactory product. These attributes are the required features a consumer would expect from the design outcome, confirming that the foundational elements of the proposed healthcare tool has the potential to deliver substantial self-fulfilment among users. The performance attributes range from a functional and customer satisfaction score of 3-5, demonstrating that the desired features, identified from the user needs, have the relational potential to increase the product’s functionality and the customer’s satisfaction proportionately. The excitement attributes range from a functional score of 1-3 and a customer satisfaction score of 3-5, revealing that the proposed attraction features may deliver substantial customer satisfaction although limited functional benefits.
The Kano Analysis supports the data interpretation from the Value Opportunity Analysis, where the identified needs and proposed product features have the potential to offer a high level of value to elderly individuals and their communities.
An initial needs metrics was then developed from the key attributes identified from the Value Opportunity analysis and Kano analysis.
The Residence
Rebaudengo's 2017 publishing, Design for Living with Smart Products The Intelligent Home, explores an array of at home "smart" living products which are relevant to emerging research themes of the Empathetic Aging Project. Quotes which support, challenge or question the primary EAP research subject matter have been highlighted and discussed. The insights gained from Rebaudengo’s publishing will help inform the selection of product design specification metrics.
Understanding the Concept of a Home
" A home is not a “house”; a home is not only a set of problems that can be solved or tasks that can be automated. A home, as said by Joseph Grima, founder of the architecture and research studio Space Caviar, “is so much more than the sum of the functions it performs,” and it’s a very complex mix of people, architecture, history, memories, technology, and generally life. "
" My home answers as much to my functional needs as it functions as a representation of my own aspirations. "
" The future home always has been the theater for companies to envision and explain how great technological leaps will be brought to the masses, changing their lives in myriad beneficial ways. "
From understanding the subjective value of a home in comparison to a structural place of residence, the importance of acknowledging habitual complexities and nuances is realised. This is likely heightened for those aging in place, as it is statistically probable that the individuals engaging with the EAP outcome will have maximal memories and emotional associations with their home due to their endearing residency. Therefore, as the designer of the EAP, it is my responsibility to ensure that the outcome developed appropriately recognises and responds to the lifestyle of those aging in place.
Furthermore, by appreciating that the physical presence of a home is a psychological reflection of self, practical engagement within a home can therefore be interpreted as acts of self care. This concept discussed by Rebaudengo supports the EAP’s hypothesis that the home may be utilised to gain insight into the wellbeing of its inhabitants.
The concept of a “modern” home has evolved into data-mining opportunity for financially inclined technologists and designers. To ensure that the human-centred outcome of the EAP is understood by those aging in place, a minimal cost, autonomy inspiring device is to be designed.
A "Smart" Environment
" Smart cities, smart homes, and smart devices are being pushed in our life to help us deal with our own limits and point us in the direction of our personal and common aspiration of financial, ecological, and mental balance. "
" The ability to embed computing power and connectivity inside almost any product at a viable price opens up completely new services, products, and use cases. "
" There is a long and growing list of people who are laughing about the usefulness of smart products or who are concerned about the hidden and dark aspects of privacy and security; "
A “smart” environment seeks to provide users with supplementary opportunities to engage with daily life. Therefore, smart objects are predominantly designed with an ambitious target audience in mind. As the EAP is designed to support those aging in place, the motivations to engage with a “smart” environment shift from seeking to advance and develop lifestyle habits to seeking to support the continuation of everyday routines. Furthermore, as those over the age of 65 are considered to be a vulnerable population, it is documented that those aging in place exhibit greater aversion to converting their home into a “smart” environment than those under the age of 65. Therefore, when developing the EAP outcome, themes of familiarity and approachability are to be considered and validated by those aging in place.
Interactions with "Smart" Artefacts
“ Techno solutionism ”
" A next level of smartness is becoming more and more accessible and setting a need for new paradigms of interaction and relationships with things that listen, adapt, evolve, learn and “dwell” with us. Although this shift will surely affect the experiences of users, it also will require designers, engineers, technologists, and companies to find ways to envision not only new values and use cases, but also to consider the implications of what they are bringing into people’s lives. "
" Translated to the world of data, the introduction of a new service, products, or algorithms requires a responsible design that considers moments when things start to disappoint, embarrass, annoy, or stop working or stop being useful. "
" It is widely accepted that giving users the sense that they are in control is a classic principle of designing interfaces. In this spirit, objects have been designed to be obedient, responsive, and predictable, and we design interfaces to simplify and provide people the best experience and control over those products. "
" Fast-forwarding to today, with the web leaking into everyday objects and an ever-growing amount of information and smartness that can be embedded in products… Some of them, like computers and appliances, had to evolve in form, function, and interaction to be fully “domesticated” and accepted, whereas some, like robots or the smart fridge, failed or are still failing at this process or just failed to be integrated in the context of the home. "
" Whereas “smart” seems to have become a one-size-fits-all solution, most of the world has evolved and lives in a different industrial, cultural, and architectonic evolution of the home. "
" Scott Smith talks about “culture as the original API,” to express how the motives, logics, and basic information that a home or product refer to should be based on the context and the home culture in which they will live and be hosted. "
“ generic users ”
Rebaudengo affirms that designers have a responsibility to understand the closeness that “smart” objects have to their users. The creators of a “smart” object must consider the designed jurisdiction that a consumer will hold over the product and the potential control the device may hold over its end user. As the end users for the EAP’s outcome is primarily those over the age of 65, it is essential that the device does not exploit the trust of the consumer to shape the lifestyle behaviours as opposed to supporting autonomous living. To ensure that elderly individual wills maintain authority over the “smart” outcome of the EAP, considered technological assets are to be included in the final outcome. Therefore, algorithmic technological integration, such as artificial intelligence (AI), is to be withheld from the design of the product placed within the home of an elderly individual.
It is understood that the uptake of “smart” devices is dependent on the degree of acknowledgement and reflection offered by the product. Those who invest in “smart” devices are promised with revolutionary convenience that predeceasing unsatisfying, unsmart products have been unable to deliver. As the consumer-facing outcome of the EAP is designed to enhance the communication of elderly individuals with their support community, the product must deliver relational closeness beyond that of existing communication technologies. Research has indicated that the primary method of sentimental communication for those over the age of 65 years is a telephone. Therefore, the “smart” outcome of the EAP must innovatively provide elderly individuals with convenient, individualised communication with close family and community members.
The Intersection of the "Smart" and the Home
" Dwelling with computers means that they have their place, and we ours, and we coexist comfortably. "
" For an object to dwell with us means that it might become more like a houseguest that we host for a long or short time. "
" Magic, invisible, seamless experiences with smart products are very attractive points to sell a product, but a trustable, seamful, and partially opaque product might be better to live with. "
" Being able to see more of what’s behind the behavior of a product allows people to understand and become more trusting of a system. "
To ensure that the EAP’s outcome is accepted into the homes of those aging in place, so that optimal data of the individual’s wellbeing may be collected, the product must offer perpetual delight, comfort and value to its users. Additionally, Rebaudengo highlights the importance of delivering an comprehendible product to end users so that trust in the “smart” device may be established. These insights highlight the potential for end user emotional investment to be made into “smart” devices. Therefore, when establishing the Product Design Specification for the EAP’s outcome, subjective qualities such as “user empowerment” are to be mandatorily embedded into the developed product.
Designer Motivations
" Motives that seem to be always aimed at solving home life and its shifting loads. "
“ Whether electrified, automated, or smart, products in the future homes are living in “stages for performances, rather than spaces for lives. They are also, for the most part, concerned with advancing a particular brand or corporation, without necessarily creating a coherent vision for the future.” “
" Products are embedded with views and biases that come from the people that design, code, produce, and market them, with rules based on standards, references, and approximations that might become apparent only after the system is in use. "
" To design such products, we will need to break apart some of the assumptions that lie behind the word “smart” and embrace the complex reality of real homes. "
" As a designer, however, what we should care about is not the technology itself, but how it will relate to people and how we will create ways to interact with one another. "
" To design for real people, not for the hero moment "
" Challenge the goal and main motive of the product. What if a ritual could be enhanced rather than simplified? "
Rebaudengo acknowledges that “smart” designs are predominantly developed by industries and individuals who are seeking to “solve” widely experienced concerns in a financially beneficial way. However, Rebaudengo stipulates that by acknowledging the real, imperfect home environment, that a “smart” design is to be placed within, novel technology-supported interactions and relationships with “smart” products may be realised. This theory is to be tested by the EAP’s outcome, as the research project is fundamentally inspired by the Wabi Sabi philosophy. Therefore, the EAP seeks to support the lifestyles of those aging in place in comparison to “solving” the natural process of aging for those living at home. This designer perspective establishes the EAP as a novel gerontological design research project, which is to generate an accessible “smart” outcome, designed with individuals aging in place, for individuals aging in place.
Rebaudengo, S. (2017). Design for Living with Smart Products The Intelligent Home (A. Rufino, Ed.; 1st ed.). O’Reilly Media, Inc.