This document reports on the work performed in Task 1.1 User requirements analysis and Task 1.2 GiraffPlus Environment Design Principles. Specifically, it describes the results of a deep involvement of users, both primary (elderly living in their apartment), and secondary (health care professional or family members and friends) recruited in our studies. The report details the qualitative and quantitative research carried out in the three countries of Sweden, Spain and Italy, to elicit user requirements and expectations in terms of type of services as well as system design and appearance. Some qualitative cross-cultural analysis has also been performed in order to highlight differences emerged during the studies in the three countries. Result of this effort is list of user requirements and a set of preferences on different mockups of a component of the system that can be both used to influence the future architecture definition and functional specification of the GiraffPlus system. The work described in this deliverable constitutes the starting point of T1.3 Technological Component Assessment and Selection and overall provides useful hints to the whole system development.

This chapter presents a telehealth system called GiraffPlus supporting independent living of elderly in their own home. GiraffPlus system is a complex system which monitors activities and physiological parameters in the home using a network of sensors. The elaborated information is presented to the primary user, the elderly, and to secondary users like health care and home care providers and possibly to family members as a help to assess possible health and wellbeing deterioration, provide acute alarms, and support health procedure. The secondary users can also visit the elderly via the Giraff, a teleoperated robot that can communicate and move in the home under the control of the secondary user. The chapter focusses in particular on the deployment of the system in six real homes in Sweden, Italy and Spain. The chapter outlines the technological various components used, the expectations of the users and the evaluation method.

Involving users in the design process is increasingly discussed as the quickest and most reliable way to capture the needs of users and consumers. In parallel, the fastest growing population segment in Asia and the West is older people. This article asks whether their involvement in the design process could accelerate a growing service market and if so, how? It addresses a knowledge gap that constrains service provision for a growing market of older people and which underestimates older people's potential contribution in the early phases of the development of new services. The current role of older users is limited to that of test persons later in the design process or as objects of randomized samples that explore consumers' reactions to existing products. The present case study provides an empirical example of how old users can be involved in the early stages of service design. In doing this, the article questions the concept of old users as laggards. It suggests great potential to include such users - been arounds - as sources of innovation in the earlier phases of the design process if they have the right tools and opportunities to act. In identifying unsatisfied needs and potential market solutions, the inclusion of old users in user-driven projects can contribute to the generation of business ideas.

The introduction of social assistive robots is a promising approach to enable a growing number of elderly people to continue to live in their own homes as long as possible. Older people are often an excluded group in product development; however this age group is the fastest growing segment in most developed societies. We present a participatory design approach as a methodology to create a dialogue with older people in order to understand the values embodied in robots. We present the results of designing and deploying three participatory workshops and implementing a subsequent robot mock-up study. The results indicate that robot mock-ups can be used as a tool to broaden the knowledge-base of the users' personal goals and device needs in a variety of ways, including supporting age-related changes, supporting social interaction and regarding robot aesthetic. Concerns that robots may foster inactivity and laziness as well as loss of human contact were repeatedly raised and must be addressed in the development of assistive domestic robots.

Engaging old users in the exploration of future product concepts can be challenging. It is of great value to find ways to actively involve them in the design of novel technologies intended for them, particularly when they have no prior experience of the technology in question. One obstacle in this process is that many old people do not identify themselves as being old or they think that it (the technology) would be good for others but not themselves. This paper presents a card method to overcome this obstacle. A full-day workshop with three internal focus groups was run with 14 participants. Based on our experience, we propose a way in which active participation in the process of eliciting user requirements for assistive robots from old users with no prior experience of assistive robots can be carried out.

This paper focuses on how older people in Sweden imagine the potential role of robots in their lives. The data collection involved mixed methods, including focus groups, a workshop, a questionnaire and interviews. The findings obtained and lessons learnt from one method fed into another. In total, 88 older people were involved. The results indicate that the expectations and preconceptions about robots are multi-dimensional and ambivalent. Ambivalence can been seen in the tension between the benefits of having a robot looking after the older people, helping with or carrying out tasks they no longer are able to do, and the parallel attitudes, resilience and relational inequalities that accompany these benefits. The participants perceived that having a robot might be "good for others but not themselves", "good as a machine not a friend" while their relatives and informal caregivers perceived a robot as "not for my relative but for other older people". 

The use of telehealthcare systems to promote independent living for elderly people is growing. The results presented in this article, derived from an initial user lab test of a telecare system-GiraffPlus-indicate that the crucial factor for adoption of telehealthcare systems is not usability but the system's ability to support autonomy in everyday life. Eleven users tested the usability and reported what they perceived as possible benefits of having such a system at home. To support autonomy, customization is crucial for the system to be perceived as meaningful for the individual. Our analysis confirms previous research

This paper describes and reflects upon a senior-oriented participatory design methodology that facilitates communication, attention and creativity. Previous research indicates that seniors tend to lose focus and start cross talking during workshops, which results in broad and superficial findings. However, our workshop methodology indicates that the use of attention cards helps the seniors to stay focused by visualizing concrete first person narrative scenarios. This paper does not describe the findings of the workshop. Instead, we use our experience to propose ways in which the process of eliciting user requirements for novel technologies from old users with no prior experience of the technology in question can be made.

Assistive robots have received considerable research attention due to the increase of the senior population around the world and the shortage of caregivers. However, limited attention has been paid to involving seniors in the design process in order to elicit their attitudes and perception of having their own robot. This study addresses this issue. We conducted a workshop with 14 Swedish seniors age 65 to 86. The findings indicate that: (1) the functionality of the robot is far more important than the appearance; (2) the usefulness will determine the acceptance of a robot; (3) seniors feel it is important to keep up to date with new technological developments; (4) assistive robots were not perceived as intrusive and having a robotic presence in the seniors' bathrooms and bedrooms was considered acceptable. These findings suggest that seniors are prepared to give assistive robots a try if the robot is perceived as useful. 

There are good reasons to believe that furniture designers can play an important role in the design of appropriate caring environments and thus contribute to the care that is provided. Designers are usually engaged by manufacturers that develop furniture for public procurement and a market for elderly consumers but often do not learn from those who spend their everyday lives in these environments. This paper is based on industrial design and presents a study that explores the relationships between people and furniture in nursing homes. Thematic interviews were carried out with residents and personnel, in total 21 participants. The study was carried out in three nursing homes in Stockholm. The results suggest that elderly people strive for a sense of home in their private rooms in contrast to shared rooms and that the perspectives on furniture differ between the elderly people and the personnel. The conclusion is that understanding the role of furniture at nursing homes can help to reinforce the identity of elderly residents and their needs of continuity, socialization and existential safety. The recommendations are to involve the experiences of elderly people in the design processes and to make more informed furniture investment decisions for nursing homes.

This article explores the way in which television viewing contribute to a sense of coherence, in the salutogenic way of emphasising the healthy parts of a person. Participatory observations were carried out at a department for people with dementia who watched TV in the common TV room. Previous research points at TV viewing as an important routine in everyday life and as an active occupation as opposed to assumptions about TV viewing being passive. This study confirm these results and shows that television viewing contributes to keep up with routines in an unproblematic way. TV viewing has a role in generating communication and shared experiences from what persons jointly watch. This communication is recommended to be developed as a part of the caring strategy. Programme content can also be developed to better fit the needs and demands of old viewers with dementia.

The aim of the NavMem project is to develop a mobile navigation companion for elderly persons with memory decline (MCI). The project is intended for a wide range of target users-e.g. persons with memory problems due to early dementia, stroke but also elderly persons in general. In the following we report results from studies made together with the Swedish Stroke Association. We describe the early stages of the user centered design process and provide a list of requirements. We also provide initial designs and early prototypes and report preliminary results from recent user tests.

Background: In the last decade, research has highlighted the importance of interprofessional approaches to education and practice. Collaboration between medical practice and engineering has been identified as particularly relevant to developing accountable models for sustainable healthcare and overcoming increased specialization leading to professional barriers. This study aims to analyze insights and understanding expressed by nursing students and biomedical engineering students following a joint learning activity regarding a medical device used in the hospital setting.

Method: A qualitative approach deriving from a phenomenological view examined an interprofessional learning activity where the focus was on active integration and knowledge exchange.

Conclusion: The activity was expressed as a positive opportunity for getting insights into perspectives from other professional groups as well as insights into the importance of a system perspective in patient safety. The learning and insights listed in the evaluations included ideas about how the two professional groups could collaborate in the future.

The "Design Culture for Ageing Well: Designing for 'Situated Elderliness' " special track focuses on everyday practices and notions of ageing that can be relevant to Human Computer Interaction (HCI). In collaboration with senior associations, designers and theoreticians we elaborate on how newer notions of ageing might inform HCI design. With this track, we concentrate on bottom-up practices of ageing in everyday life, such as used language (visual and verbal) and diverse practices of senior communities (e.g: in different cultures). Our ambition is to go beyond framing support for ageing through a disability-support assistive lens and explore new approaches to designing through ageing well and life experiences as sources for innovations.

Design professionals with a commitment to participatory design all want to engage with real people. A focus of discussion at the workshop was the nature of this engagement and how to rethink the dynamic relationship between older people and the designers in the design process. Working directly within the everyday practices of a group with similar interests independent of their age, physical abilities, or professional practices can help researchers co-create concepts in everyday contexts. In practice there are various ways that designers can be more reflective about their own conceptualizations of aging. At a very simple level, designers can reflect on and integrate an enriched understanding of aging as a positive adaptive process into the design visuals and design languages they create, namely the pictures and slogans they use, the logos they design, and the forms of communications and prototypes they build.

This paper presents a person-centred model and a tangible computing approach to better adapt television media to meet two important needs of older people: social inclusion in their immediate surroundings and better support for one's own reflections. Method The research project was carried out as a part of the construction, planning and implementation of a new nursing home. The implemented infrastructure enabled television watching at three levels: the regular (broadcast programmes), the internal and the personal. The internal level consisted of an in-house broadcast television channel and two media centres placed in common areas. The personal level had individualised functions. The entire concept is referred to as 'extended television'. This paper describes the early implementation phase of the internal television channel and the personal television photo album. It also examines the consequences of a person-centred model and a tangible computing approach. Participation in the use of the 'ex-tended television' together with older people, relatives and care workers, semi-structured dialogues with these people, and observations of the television usage were conducted. Furthermore, the care workers were invited to comment on the prototypes very early in the process. Results Both the internal channel and the personal television photo album were used by older residents and iteratively adapted. However, too many factors and routines varied to get statistically sound results. On the other hand, the research shows that the person-centred study design utilised provided positive results in a setting with constantly changing conditions. Discussion This design encourages further investigations regarding how new conceptual television design can enrich the everyday lives of older people. The results also indicate the plausibility of television photo albums providing new opportunities for reminiscence compared to traditional ones, and that the internal channel resulted in possibilities for social inclusion in the nursing home examined.

Opublicerad rapport från den vetenskapliga uppföljningen av SeniorITa projektet 1997-1998.

Summary of remarks with reference to a Swedish study about new technology in elderly people´s housing.

This thesis deals with the role of technology in elderly peoples everydaylife, to what extent technology can facilitate or prevent them from havinga social life. The intension is to describe the role of technology from olderpeoples own perspective. Four activities in everyday life in which technology is involved are emphasised: social contacts, security, information and distribution of services and goods. Technology related to these activities are telephones, televisions, safety alarms and homeshopping-terminals. The aim of the study is to describe how these fourtechnologies are used by the elderly and what function and meaning theygive to the technology; and to describe old peoples attitudes to newtechnology in general and to the home shopping-terminals specificallyand how this technology affects their everyday life contacts and routins.The main emphirical work consists of recurrent interviews andobservations of a group of old people living in a city (Malmo) and in a rural district (Kinda).

The results show that the function of technologies such as the telephoneand the television becomes more specific and even more important to connect the home with the outside world. By this kind of technology the interviewees remain socially integrated but, which is one of their expressed preferences, with no demands on social participation. A growing need of privacy is succesfully combined with an increased need of security and help. Technology is not used to establish new contacts but relations to relatives and friends are maintained. The attitude and acceptance of new technology in general is positive due to their lifelong experiences of improvements. The difference is that they are not that interested anymore, referring to an increased pragmatic vue towards modernity, to a limited future-perspective and to their basic values.

When designing innovations for the silver age, it is not sufficient to discover old people’s needs only. In addition, one also has to discover old peoples’ new roles as consumers, citizens and innovators. Since these are people who until recently have been given few opportunities to make their voices heard, there is a need for methods that identify their needs and demands. More importantly, we need to study and use methods that reveal the sources of innovations behind their expressed problems and lifelong habits as users of technology. Three attempts to identify old people’s needs and demands by involving them in the design process are presented, drawn from design projects implemented in Sweden from 2005 to 2009. One project explores how the furniture market can be opened to new segments of older consumers. Another project concerns the development of services. The third project links older people’s lifelong habit of watching TV to the development of communication via the television medium. The results were analyzed from two points of view: How do we recognise a need that can be explored in design? When discovered, how do we know that this is a worthwhile need to explore? The first attempt shows that older people can present needs as active users with expressed and specific demands; the second attempt shows that older users can have a need to support the solution to problems which are not yet expressed and activated; and the third attempt shows them as users with latent needs that originate from their lifelong experiences, and needs to keep up with daily routines. 

Despite the fact that old people´s technological needs have been given much attention to in the last decennium, especially old users of information- and communication technology, technology has not found its natural place in research on ageing in modern societies. This article examines to what extent social science research exist in the field of ageing and technology and where we can find the interface between technological and social science expertise. Scientific publications during the period 1983-2002 are analysed in terms of theoretical content, the role of the elderly as being regarded as objects or subjects, and if technology is called into question in any respect. Scientific well-grounded knowledge exist besides less well-substantiated assumptions regarding the effects of technology and a premature body of thoughts on the relationship between technology and the elderly.