Abstract
As the elder population continues to increase throughout the world, there is a tremendous need for technologies that will keep elders healthy and self-sufficient in their homes. Ubiquitous, smart home technologies can fulfill this role, but a thorough understanding of elders’ routines, lifestyles, and home environments is required in order to develop effective aids. This paper describes our research approach, which evolved from stories related in household interviews (‘tales’), ethnographic observation of elders’ routines and environments (‘tours’), analysis of artefacts (‘tools’) and finally interactive performances (‘troupes’) to convey and elicit feedback about the capabilities of future home technologies for the elderly. This combination of methods revealed a range of user values, behaviours, coping styles, and requirements for ubiquitous technology that would otherwise have been difficult to gather in this domain of ubiquitous, ‘invisible’ computing.
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© 2005 Springer-Verlag London Limited
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Lundell, J., Morris, M. (2005). Tales, Tours, Tools, and Troupes: A Tiered Research Method to Inform Ubiquitous Designs for the Elderly. In: Fincher, S., Markopoulos, P., Moore, D., Ruddle, R. (eds) People and Computers XVIII — Design for Life. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-84628-062-1_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-84628-062-1_11
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-85233-900-5
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