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Silver Age Innovators

Östlund, Britt LU (2011) p.15-26
Abstract
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 this is a group that until recently has 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... (More)
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 this is a group that until recently has 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. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
silver age, old people, innovations, consumers
host publication
The Silver Market Phenomen. Market and Innovation in the Aging Society
editor
Florian, Kohlbacher and Cornelius, Herstatt
pages
15 - 26
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:84855511491
ISBN
978-3-642-14337-3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
af8f2bbf-267a-4d41-99b3-ac59b63a7dc7 (old id 1857288)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:58:07
date last changed
2022-04-16 02:38:42
@inbook{af8f2bbf-267a-4d41-99b3-ac59b63a7dc7,
  abstract     = {{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 this is a group that until recently has 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.}},
  author       = {{Östlund, Britt}},
  booktitle    = {{The Silver Market Phenomen. Market and Innovation in the Aging Society}},
  editor       = {{Florian, Kohlbacher and Cornelius, Herstatt}},
  isbn         = {{978-3-642-14337-3}},
  keywords     = {{silver age; old people; innovations; consumers}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{15--26}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  title        = {{Silver Age Innovators}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}