Sensibilities & Limitations Workshop
25, 26, 27 February 2008
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Approach
The Sensibilities and Limitations workshop brings together experts from geriatrics, social work, design, engineering and other policymakers from the silver industry.
Working in small groups, the participants address the topic of “Elderly and Infocomm”, in the following focuses - Independent Living, Lifelong Learning and Social Communication.
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Pre-research
Pre-research is carried out by the DIC facilitators to define the scope of the workshop. Literature reviews, online search and exhibition visits enrich their knowledge of the topic. |
Gathering insights
The groups are assigned to visit the elderly at their living, learning and interacting environments. While conversing with them, participants are involved with observing the activities, environments, interactions, objects and users involved (AEIOU). |
Organisational
Returning to the studio, all photographs taken during the observation session are printed out by the participants and reviewed one by one. Each photograph is annotated with short keywords describing its intention. The collection of photographs is then further classified into “Motivations” and “Inhibitions”, to build a clear overview of the push and pull factors for the elderly to live, learn and interact actively. |
Ideation
Identifying design opportunities from the photos and keywords, the participants spontaneously make quick sketches of any idea which comes to mind. Within a short session of ideation, over 100 ideas on how technology can play a part in the lives of the elderly were generated. The sketched ideas included small gadgets for day-to-day tasks to more complex technological systems involving more parties. |
Proof
From sketches on paper, the ideas are further refined and developed when participants construct rough prototypes to illustrate their concepts. The physical sketch models allow them to test their presumed scenarios and reactions effectively. |
Communication
Giving the audience a background of their collected insights, the groups take turns to role-play and present their selected concepts. |
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Outcomes
After the workshop, the outcomes were revisited and thought processes retraced; further refinement was made to some concepts. As we document the insights gathered from the observations, we also uncover more design opportunities worth pursuing as continual in-house projects.
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Workshop diagram |
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Workshop process |
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| Research library |
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| Particpants of the workshop observing senior citizens at the RSVP Silver Infocomm Junctions computer lab. |
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Participants were invited into some of the homes of the residents and observed how the residents interacted with their environments, objects and with other residents in the building. |
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| Classification of 'motivation' of 'inhibition' factors using post-its. |
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Using the 'diamond of nine' method to rank 'motivations' and 'inhibitions'. |
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| Workshop participants during an ideation exercise. |
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| Participant demonstrating a phone service concept using props. |
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Participant demonstrating a home-delivery service utilizing an ordinary clothesline. |
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| Workshop moderator giving a presentation. |
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Group of participants presenting their chosen concept. |
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Selection Knob / Button
Software solution |
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Concierge Helpline
Business framework |
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| More ideas from the workshop (currently in development) can be viewed here. |
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