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1. Exploring the Use of Electronics to Customize Pervasive Health Technologies with Older Adult Crafters

   Jelen, Ben; Richards, Olivia K.; Whitman, Samantha A.; Ongwere, Tom; Kresnye, K. Cassie; Siek, Katie A. (January 2020, Proceedings of the Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare (PervasiveHealth ’20))

   As the worldwide population ages, HCI researchers are designing technologies to better support older adults. We investigated how older adult crafters would customize technologies using electronics by building on their crafting skills. This supported them to explore customizing devices for themselves and advance the design of per- vasive health technologies for older adults. We first conducted a survey of 42 older adult crafters to learn more about their crafting habits and gauge interest in technology and health tracking. We then conducted a participatory design workshop with 10 older adult crafters, focused on mutual learning to support them in prototyp- ing how they would customize technology with maker electronics. They brainstormed customized devices around health, games, and safety, as well as aesthetically enhanced artifacts integrating elec- tronics. We discuss how promoting older adult crafters to design and build customized pervasive health technologies impacts future research, and we provide guidelines on how to do so. 

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2. Speaking from Experience: Co-designing E-textile Projects with Older Adult Fiber Crafters

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3569009.3572736  

   Jelen, Ben; Lazar, Amanda; Harrington, Christina; Pradhan, Alisha; Siek, Katie A. (February 2023, Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction)

   Researchers support race, gender, and age diverse groups of people to create with maker electronics. These groups include older adults, who are often overlooked as not interested or capable of learning new technologies due to ageist stereotypes. One approach, often involving e-textiles, leverages crafting as a bridge to broaden participation in making. We investigated ways to broaden participation in maker electronics for older adults by remotely co-designing e-textile projects with 6 older adult crafters over the course of 5 workshop sessions for a total of 45 hours. We developed a deeper understanding of their practices, identifying a Planner-Improviser Spectrum for how they approached their craft, and created medium fdelity prototypes. Our design implications draw on our participants’ crafting experience and their experience in the workshop to highlight what e-textile toolkit designers can learn from skilled older adult crafters, such as selecting familiar materials, supporting aesthetic goals, and making electronics more attainable. 

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3. Older Adults as Makers of Custom Electronics: Iterating on Craftec

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3312755  

   Jelen, Ben; Monsey, Susan; Siek, Katie A. (January 2019, CHI EA '19 Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems)

   Researchers have designed technologies for and with older adults to help them age in place, but there is an opportunity to support older adults in creating customized smart devices for themselves through electronic toolkits. We developed a plan for iterating on Craftec - one of the first electronic toolkits designed for older adults - informed by the results of a participatory design workshop and user evaluation. We focused on supporting older adults to create exemplar artifacts, such as medication adherence systems. We contribute the exemplars and the current plan for components of the Craftec system as a way to support older adults to design technology for themselves. 

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4. Ability + Motivation: Understanding Factors that Influence People with Cognitive Disabilities in Regularly Practicing Daily Activities

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3587281.3587295  

   Koushik, Varsha; Kane, Shaun (April 2023, ACM)

   Not AvailablePeople with cognitive disabilities may experience challenges in consistently performing daily activities because they skip steps, struggle to track progress, or lack the motivation to complete them. These challenges are often along a range; people need assistive devices customized to their specific needs. However, existing assistive technologies, like prompting systems, lack the capabilities to customize support for diverse needs. With the advent of smart home devices, there are opportunities to design prompting systems that support diverse accessibility and motivational needs, thereby supporting the regular practice of daily activities. To understand design factors for such devices, we interviewed adults with cognitive disabilities, parents, and caregivers. Our participants described their needs for future prompting systems, including structuring tasks, supporting motivation, and introducing community support. This paper presents insights and design suggestions for context-aware assistive technologies that could help people with cognitive disabilities regularly perform everyday activities. 

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5. Taking Stock of the Present and Future of Smart Technologies for Older Adults and Caregivers

   Harrington, Christina N; Jelen, Ben; Lazar, Amanda; Martin-Hammon, Aqueasha; Pradhan, Alisha; Reeder, Blaine; Siek, Katie (March 2021, A Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Quadrennial Paper)

   null (Ed.)

   Technology has the opportunity to assist older adults as they age in place, coordinate caregiving resources, and meet unmet needs through access to resources. Currently, older adults use consumer technologies to support everyday life, however these technologies are not always accessible or as useful as they can be. Indeed, industry has attempted to create smart home technologies (e.g., Microsoft HomeOS, Intel CareNet) with older adults as a target user group, however these solutions are oftenmore focused on the technical aspects and are short lived. In this paper, we advocate for older adults being involved in the design process - from initial ideation to product development to deployment. We encourage federally funded researchers and industry to create compensated, diverse older adult advisory boards to address stereotypes about aging while ensuring their needs are considered. We envision artificial intelligence (AI) systems that augment resources instead of replacing them - especially in under-resourced communities. Older adults rely on their caregiver networks and community organizations for social, emotional, and physical support; thus, AI should be used to coordinate resources better and lower the burden of connecting with these resources. Although sociotechnical smart systems can help identify needs of older adults, the lack of affordable research infrastructure and translation of findings into consumer technology perpetuates inequities in designing for diverse older adults. In addition, there is a disconnect between the creation of smart sensing systems and creating understandable, actionable data for older adults and caregivers to utilize. We ultimately advocate for a well-coordinated research effort across the United States that connects older adults, caregivers, community organizations, and researchers together to catalyze innovative and practical research for all stakeholders. 

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