Insights curated by Experientia, the international UX consultancy
Insights curated by Experientia, the international UX consultancy
The trend of an ageing population is reflected across Europe. It is estimated that by 2035 nearly a quarter of the population in the United Kingdom will be over 65 years. Ageing is traditionally associated with a decrease in mobility…
Every time we return to or sign up for an Internet service (e.g. Facebook, Google, Gmail, YouTube, etc.), writes Hassan Baig on TechCrunch, we rely on what UX experts call a “mental model†for navigating through the choices. “A mental…
Foodborne illness is a major public health problem in the UK. Recent increases in cases of listeriosis in older people have focused attention on consumer food-related practices. Previous studies highlight poor relationships between what people know, what they say they…
Connect: Design for an Empathic Society by Sabine Wildevuur, Dick van Dijk, Thomas Hammer-Jakobson, Mie Bjerre, Anne Äyväri and Jesper Lund BIS Publishers, 2014 216 pages [Amazon link] Abstract The prospects are clear: we will probably live longer. The number…
BBC News has published a 5 minute video feature on Cambridge University’s Design Centre where they test how elderly people use technology. Must-have modern gadgets are designed by young people with young people in mind – that is the view…
The use of smartphones is becoming widespread among all sectors of the population. However, developers and designers do not have access to guidance in designing for specific audiences such as older adults. This study by Roxanne Leitão of Fraunhofer Portugal…
The full service design agency Pars Pro Toto in Ghent, Belgium built the “Wereld van Nestor” [Nestor’s World], a social design tool meant to help local governments in Flanders create a better world for their elderly citizens. The tool is…
The UK Design Council, in partnership with the UK Department of Health, ran a national competition to find teams of designers and experts who could develop new ideas to help improve the lives of those affected by dementia, reports Dexigner.…
The Life 2.0 project is a EU funded project that aims at supporting elderly people’s independent life through a platform of geographical positioning and social networking services. The project, which involves 13 core partners in 5 European member states, started…
As the first baby boomers turn 65 this year, high-tech is gradually making its way into the lives – and homes – of older folks. French newspaper Le Monde looks at the tablets, sensors, foot boards and other gadgets seniors…
This month Chip Chick, the site that focuses on technology for women, was invited by Intel to its annual Upgrade Your Life Event where the company presented what it is working on. This feature article updates us on how Intel’s…
UX Matters is another one of these great resources for the user experience community. Here three recent articles: Designing user experiences for children By Heather Nam (Mediabarn) Creating a great experience for Web site users should always take the users’…
Researchers at the Universidad Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in Spain have studied how older people interact and use email in their daily life. The study, conducted by Sergio Sayago, was carried out in social centres in Barcelona and will be used…
Designers can play a pivotal role, writes Mark Baskinger, associate professor in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University, in empowering elders towards sustained autonomous living through improving the communicative properties of everyday products. “Products fail us every day.…
Sir George Cox was the closing speaker at The Big Rethink, a ‘Redesigning Business Summit’ organised by The Economist, in association with the Design Council, that aims to develop some fresh ideas on how design thinking can be used to…
Philips reports that its new Lifeline Cordless Phone System has been designed “to enable the frail and elderly to maintain independence, despite their changing physical needs.” “The Philips Lifeline Cordless Phone System is a cordless home phone with a medical…
The latest Intel Technology Journal (Volume 13, Issue 30 reports the research and development activities of the Intel Digital Health Group and its colleagues. One article, entitled “From people to prototypes and products: ethnographic liquidity and the Intel Global Aging…
The Trill Centre is a project by Intel, Ireland’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA), and academic partners including Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and the National University of Ireland Galway, focused on technology research for independent living (TRIL). In essence,…
The 2009 Media Engagement Barometer commissioned by Motorola’s Home & Networks Mobility business has revealed a shift in [US] consumer influence that hasn’t been widely recognized yet: age no longer dictates a consumer’s willingness or ability to use media technology…
Italy is in the process of switching to digital TV, and the implementation is pretty much a disaster, as far as I can tell from the reactions in the region where I live (Piedmont). Many of the problems are technological,…