User requirements for inclusive technology for older adults

TL;DR

This paper explores the user requirements for inclusive active aging technologies, emphasizing the importance of understanding older adults' needs and sociotechnical context to design effective, stereotype-free solutions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel model of user requirements specifically tailored for inclusive technology aimed at supporting older adults' active lifestyles.

Findings

Developed a comprehensive model of user requirements.

Identified key barriers and facilitators for technology acceptance.

Highlighted the importance of sociotechnical considerations in design.

Abstract

Active aging technologies are increasingly designed to support an active lifestyle. However, the way in which they are designed can raise different barriers to acceptance of and use by older adults. Their designers can adopt a negative stereotype of aging. Thorough understanding of user requirements is central to this problem. This paper investigates user requirements for technologies that encourage an active lifestyle and provide older people with the means to self-manage their physical, mental, and emotional health. This requires consideration of the person and the sociotechnical context of use. We describe our work in collecting and analyzing older adults' requirements for a technology which enables an active lifestyle. The main contribution of the paper is a model of user requirements for inclusive technology for older people.