Seniors in charge of ICT innovation

• We present the user-driven AGNES project (aal-2008-1-014). The project has three user groups, one in each of Sweden, Spain andGreece, who have participated as full members of the project team. The method used for developing this novel ICT was an extension of the ELITE design approach for user driven innovation. The results presented in the paper are on how theusers’ attitudes changed during the project due to their having theexpert role in the development process and how they accepted andacted in that role. To start with, the elderly users were very polite, often negative about and frightened of technology. Some did not have a computer of their own and did not have any or much experiences of new communication technologies. During theproject the users were introduced to an interactive social network, generated design ideas for new ICT and also tested ICT solutions related to using the social network and connected devices. Thepaper gives examples of how the user attitudes towards technology changes during the project and discusses how theybecame true experts able to express their knowledge and in thatway exert control over the technical design in the project. The result is that the users have become bold, good at expressing theirknowledge, and good at marketing the project and the use oftechnology to other people, and in the process increasing theirsocial life both on the net and in the physical world.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Människa-datorinteraktion (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Human Computer Interaction (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Systemvetenskap, informationssystem och informatik med samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Information Systems, Social aspects (hsv//eng)

Keyword

AGNES

ageing

user involvement

e-Inclusion

design

evaluation

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)