Situated Participatory Design: A Method for In Situ Design of Robotic Interaction with Older Adults

TL;DR

This paper introduces Situated Participatory Design (sPD), a method for involving older adults in the in situ design and testing of assistive robots through iterative, realistic interactions in a senior living context.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel participatory design method tailored for older adults, enabling in situ, iterative development of human-robot interactions with practical case studies.

Findings

Designs evolved through iterative interactions.

Early exposure to robots increased acceptance.

Insights into benefits and limitations of sPD.

Abstract

We present a participatory design method to design human-robot interactions with older adults and its application through a case study of designing an assistive robot for a senior living facility. The method, called Situated Participatory Design (sPD), was designed considering the challenges of working with older adults and involves three phases that enable designing and testing use scenarios through realistic, iterative interactions with the robot. In design sessions with nine residents and three caregivers, we uncovered a number of insights about sPD that help us understand its benefits and limitations. For example, we observed how designs evolved through iterative interactions and how early exposure to the robot helped participants consider using the robot in their daily life. With sPD, we aim to help future researchers to increase and deepen the participation of older adults in designing assistive technologies.