The Crucial Role of Cultural Probes in Participatory Design for and with Older Adults

i-com ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Maaß ◽  
Sandra Buchmüller

AbstractSoftware systems meant to support older adults often are not well accepted as they do not meet the expectations and requirements of the target group. An involvement of older adults in system design seems imperative. The project ParTec investigated and evaluated techniques for participatory software development with regard to their suitability for communication and equal cooperation with older adults. With a group of 15 retirees we developed concepts for an online neighbourhood platform. Using various participatory techniques researchers and participants developed a deep common understanding of everyday life in early retirement, determined requirements and co-created design ideas and concepts. We will show that the use of cultural probes with subsequent qualitative interviews forms an ideal starting point and a strong fundament for a participatory design process with older adults.

Author(s):  
Isabel Schwaninger ◽  
Florian Güldenpfennig ◽  
Astrid Weiss ◽  
Geraldine Fitzpatrick

AbstractThe topic of trust has attracted increasing interest within HRI research, and is particularly relevant in the context of social robots and their assistance of older people at home. To make this abstract concept of trust more tangible for developers of robotic technologies and to connect it with older people’s living spaces and their daily practices, we propose a light-weight method drawing on elicitation cards to be used at early stages of participatory design. The cards were designed to serve as a guide for qualitative interviews at ideation phases. This was accomplished by using the cards connected to the living spaces of the participants, their daily practices, and ‘provocative’ questions to structure conversations. We developed the method with 10 inexperienced interviewers who conducted 10 qualitative interviews on the topic of trust without cards, and who tested the cards with 10 older adults. Our findings indicate that the method served as a powerful facilitator of conversations around the topic of trust and enabled interviewers to engage with everyday practices of older adults; it also facilitated a more active role for older adults during the conversations. As indicators of findings that can come from the cards, salient trust-related themes that emerged from the analysis of card usage were the desire for control, companionship, privacy, understandability, and location-specific requirements with regards to trust.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 61-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles A. Emlet ◽  
Lesley Harris

Objectives: Successful aging has been identified as an important emphasis for people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Little is known about how this population conceptualizes aging successfully and how this relates to generativity. This qualitative study examined the importance of generativity among 30 HIV-positive older adults to determine the role of generativity in successful aging. Method: Participants aged 50+ years were recruited in Ontario, Canada, through acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) service organizations, clinics, and community agencies. Qualitative interviews were analyzed to explore strategies participants employed to engage in successful aging within their own personal context. Results: Participants saw themselves as pioneers and mentors, helping others to navigate the landscape of aging with HIV. Four themes were identified through consensus including (a) reciprocity, (b) mentoring, (c) pioneerism, and (d) connecting through volunteerism. Discussion: Interventions that promote intergenerational connections, community involvement, and generative acts within the HIV community can facilitate successful aging among older adults living with HIV/AIDS.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 186-193
Author(s):  
REN YANYAN ◽  

The friendship between nations lies in the mutual affinity of the people, and the people’s affinity lies in the communion of hearts. The cultural and humanities cooperation between China and Russia has a long history. In recent years, under the role of the“Belt and Road” initiative, the SCO, and the Sino-Russian Humanities Cooperation Committee, Sino-Russian culture and humanities cooperation has continued to deepen. Entering a new era, taking the opportunity to promote Sino-Russian relations into a “new era China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership”, the development of human relations between the two countries has entered a new historical starting point, while also facing a series of problems and challenges. This article is based on the current status of Sino-Russian human relations in the new era, interprets the characteristics of Sino-Russian human relations in the new era, analyzes the problems and challenges of Sino-Russian human relations in the new era, and tries to propose solutions and solutions with a view to further developing Sino-Russian cultural and humanities relations in the new era. It is a useful reference, and provides a reference for future related research, and ultimately helps the Sino-Russian cultural and humanities relations in the new era to be stable and far-reaching.


Author(s):  
Denis Voloshinov ◽  
K. Solomonov ◽  
Lyudmila Mokretsova ◽  
Lyudmila Tishchuk

The application of constructive geometric modeling to pedagogical models of teaching graphic disciplines today is a promising direction for using computer technology in the educational process of educational institutions. The essence of the method of constructive geometric modeling is to represent any operation performed on geometric objects in the form of a transformation, as a result of which some constructive connection is established, and the transformation itself can be considered as a result of the action of an abstract cybernetic device. Constructive geometric modeling is a popular information tool for information processing in various applied areas, however, this tool cannot be appreciated without the presence of appropriate software systems and developed design techniques. Traditionally, constructive geometric modeling is used in the design of mechanical engineering, energy, aircraft and shipbuilding facilities, in architectural and design engineering. The need to study descriptive geometry at the university in recent years has something in common with the issues of mastering graphic packages of computer programs in the framework of the new discipline "Engineering and Computer Graphics". The well-known KOMPAS software product is considered the simplest and most attractive for training. It should be noted the important role of graphic packages in the teaching of geometric disciplines that require a figurative perception of the material by students. Against the background of a reduction in classroom hours, computer graphics packages are practically the only productive teaching methodology, successfully replacing traditional tools - chalk and blackboard.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Sun ◽  
Disa Sauter

Getting old is generally seen as unappealing, yet aging confers considerable advantages in several psychological domains (North & Fiske, 2015). In particular, older adults are better off emotionally than younger adults, with aging associated with the so-called “age advantages,” that is, more positive and less negative emotional experiences (Carstensen et al., 2011). Although the age advantages are well established, it is less clear whether they occur under conditions of prolonged stress. In a recent study, Carstensen et al (2020) demonstrated that the age advantages persist during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that older adults are able to utilise cognitive and behavioural strategies to ameliorate even sustained stress. Here, we build on Carstensen and colleagues’ work with two studies. In Study 1, we provide a large-scale test of the robustness of Carstensen and colleagues’ finding that older individuals experience more positive and less negative emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. We measured positive and negative emotions along with age information in 23,629 participants in 63 countries in April-May 2020. In Study 2, we provide a comparison of the age advantages using representative samples collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We demonstrate that older people experience less negative emotion than younger people during the prolonged stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the advantage of older adults was diminished during the pandemic, pointing to a likely role of older adults use of situation selection strategies (Charles, 2010).


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document