Leader: Francesca Tosi (UNIFI). Other collaborators: Mattia Pistolesi (UNIFI)
In the period M11-M15, Task1.1 working group worked on:
The working group has also planned other scientific activities useful for defining design guidelines for physical and digital interfaces envisaged by the AGE-IT research programme, including Design Workshop sessions with young designers (in progress) and a Focus Group sessions with a representative group (about 20 subjects over-55 year olds) of the citizenship of Calenzano (Florence) scheduled for the third week of April 2024.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications: From the point of view of the implications for social policies, the expected results of Task 1.1. aim at promoting design strategies that overcome the view of ageing as "passivity, decline and loss" towards an understanding of ageing as a social resource, achievable through the development of health technologies that are acceptable, usable and user friendly to the over-55 population.
At the same time, from an industrial point of view, Task 1.1 aims at achieving the development of design guidelines that can support stakeholders (designers, SMEs, academies and private and public insitutions) during the design and production phase of gerontechnologies aimed at promoting active and healthy ageing.
Please see the next reporting period.
In the period M19-M21 (July-September 2024), the UNIFI working group completed the collection and systematisation of Human-Centred evaluation and design methods, specifically design workshops, Co-design, Focus Groups and Questionnaires.
In the same period, the research unit completed the collection and systematisation of state-of-the-art technology acceptability and national and international case studies using an exploratory process, scientific databases, and artificial intelligence platforms.
In addition, the scientific literature was reviewed for the study and preliminary drafting of the guidelines. For the drafting of the guidelines, common technologies, usable even without specific medical knowledge, suitable for the promotion and monitoring of a person's state of health and well-being, were considered as the object of study, including: personal computers, tablets, smartwatches, smart TVs, digital assistants (Google Home, Echo Dot Alexa, Home Pod, etc. ), Artificial intelligence (Siri, Cortana, etc.), wellness apps, nutrition apps, sports apps, smart clothing, subcutaneous devices, glucometer, pulse oximeter, ECG and spirometer. The following aspects were analysed for each product: usability, user experience, emotional component, interaction, preference elements, usefulness, understanding and reliability. The data will enable the planning and drafting of design matrix guidelines based on the analysis of extrinsic and intrinsic factors that may determine the technology's acceptability from the end user's point of view.
To conclude, the Unifi research unit has dedicated itself to participating, by means of oral presentations and writing papers, in 2 international conferences (AHFE 2024, June; IEA 2024, August) where some of the results achieved are presented.
In the period M22-M24, the UNIFI working group worked on the preliminary drafting of guidelines for the design of physical and digital gerontechnology interfaces for active and healthy ageing. The preliminary guidelines focus on users over 55 and their residual capacities. Finally, they aim to propose innovative and inclusive design indications aimed at promoting active ageing through the use of technological and digital systems.
These Guidelines are the result of scientific activities carried out by M1 at M24, including: (i) systematic review of the scientific literature; (ii) dissemination of a national questionnaire; (iii) Focus Group with a sample of Calenzano citizens; (iv) and Design Workshop with young designers.
In addition, the UNIFI working group dedicated itself to organising a usability test with a sample of over-55 users in Calenzano (> seven users), to be conducted in January-February 2025, aimed at testing and investigating the aspects described in the preliminary guidelines.
The study sample will be asked to use two prototypes of physical and digital interfaces developed ad hoc by the working group. This will allow the group to empirically determine the aspects that determine the acceptability (positive or negative) of digital technologies. The results that emerge will be integrated into the previously developed guidelines.
To conclude, the UNIFI research unit has dedicated itself to participating in a national conference organised by Task 1.3 at the Faculty of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome (18 December 2024) and an academic event organised by the University of Florence (19 December 2024).
In the quarter of January-March 2025 (M25-M27), the Unifi working group devoted itself to conducting two research activities, as follows:
• Usability testing with two prototype smartwatch interfaces. Following a systematic literature review, it was decided to conduct a usability test for smartwatches. In contrast to other digital technologies, the literature review revealed a lack of scientific studies on the relationship between design, smartwatch and active and healthy ageing. The trial was structured based on the following research questions: a) Are interfaces designed by the Guidelines more accessible to the elderly population? b) Can technologies that meet good usability criteria in their interfaces encourage a positive attitude towards active and healthy ageing? A mixed methods approach was used to answer these research questions, combining qualitative and quantitative research. Specifically, during the usability test, the Thinking Aloud technique was introduced as a qualitative research method of participants' opinions and a PSSUQ (Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire) to collect data on perceived satisfaction when using the prototypes. The recruitment of participants was facilitated by some local associations present in Calenzano. A total of 15 users (N=15) over 55 years old, who were residents of the Municipality of Calenzano (Province of Florence, Italy), were recruited. The average age of the participants was 72.33 years (ranging from 57 to 86 years). 13.33% (N=2) of the participants are aged between 55 and 64 years, 46.67% (N=7) between 65 and 74 years, 33.33% (N=5) between 75 and 84 years and finally 6.67% (N=1) over 85 years. The experiments were conducted within the Ergonomics and Design laboratory (University of Florence) by three researchers. These were divided into 15 individual sessions of approximately one hour, each of which a user and a researcher were present. The objective was to identify the aspects that influence the usability of the prototypes under examination, investigating issues related to visibility (size, distance between interface elements, colours, contrasts), the understanding of possible interactions, involvement and comprehension of content. The emerging results will contribute to developing the final guidelines as envisaged in the Age-it research programme.
• Validation with experts of the preliminary guidelines. At the same time as the usability test with two prototypes, a specially developed questionnaire was disseminated internationally to validate 62 preliminary guidelines for physical and digital interfaces. The sample was recruited following an ex-ante literature review. Three types of international experts were recruited from the scientific disciplinary fields of design and architecture, engineering and psychology. The questionnaire, realised with the Google Forms platform, was organised into two parts. The first part concerns the respondent's biographical data and level of experience regarding the execution of projects for the elderly population. The second part concerns the validation of no. 5 guidelines in randomised form. Due to the large number of guidelines, it was decided to cluster these in a randomised form and to submit up to a maximum of 5 per expert. The preliminary guidelines will be validated at the end of April 2025. The emerging results will contribute to developing the final guidelines as envisaged in the Age-it research programme.
Scientific publications
Dissemination Events and Awards