W & K Department of Architecture Sint-Lucas - Agata Guzik & Jordana Tomé

DESIGN FOR OLDER USERS Felicia Huppert - University of Cambridge

SPATIAL ABILITY

INTRODUCTION

AGEING PROCESS

PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

SENSORY DISABILITIES

ATTENTION & CONCENTRATION

LEARNING & MEMORY

CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

Longer Life - Older population

CHANGES IN SOCIETY

Working LifeFamily StructureDesign

INDEPENDENCE AND QUALITY CONTRIBUTE TO A BETTER FUTURE

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AGEING PROCESS PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

Our maximum capabilities begin to decline after 20 years old

Muscle strength (specially after 50’s)ex. rising from a low chair, climbing stairs…

Flexibilityrestoring equilibrium – more tendency to

fallless of elasticity – affects way of walkingex. hanging out washing, reaching the back…

Influencessexheight weight

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AGEING PROCESS PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

- ensure that age-related impairments in physical capabilities are not disabling

- attention to changes in bodily dimensions

- design for everyday objects (sight for short people, easy movements to achieve everything)

- heights of products should be adjustable

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IMPLICATIONS ON DESIGN

- design shouldn’t avoid all physical demands

AGEING PROCESS SENSORY DISABILITIES

VISION IMPAIRMENT

HEARING IMPAIRMENT

TASTE, SMELL AND TOUCH IMPAIRMENT

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AGEING PROCESS SENSORY DISABILITIES

VISION IMPAIRMENT

- lighting levels at home, inside cars and in public spaces – higher level of illumination required by older adults, but not excessive lighting

Disability to see detail

Focus on near objects

Discriminate differences between levels of contrast

Adapt to changes in brightness

IMPLICATIONS ON DESIGN

- attention to see details, objects

- visual displays should use appropriate font size and type, adequate word and line spacing

- displays should be simple – priority to important information

- graphic symbols should be used as an adjunct to words

- surfaces shouldn't be reflective, but brightness and contrast high (blue-violet-green combinations should be avoided)- stairs with clearly marked edges

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Opacity and discoloration

AGEING PROCESS SENSORY DISABILITIES

HEARING IMPAIRMENT

- audible signals should be adjustable where possible

Reduced sensitivity to sound (especially high frequencies) Reduced understanding of spoken words

Reduced ability to discard different sounds together

IMPLICATIONS ON DESIGN

- combination of audio and visual signals increase the communication

- ambient sound produced by the surrounding should be minimized to avoid auditory confusion

Reduce the ability to communicate

- important messages should be in lower frequency

Causes of hearing loss- age- working in environmental noise: construction sites, road works, factory machinery

- loud music

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AGEING PROCESS SENSORY DISABILITIES

TASTE, SMELL AND TOUCH IMPAIRMENT

- the appreciation of food is enhanced by attention to its appearance

Perception of taste is related to smell and texture

Reduced with age experience with touch ex. pressure, pain, heat/cold

Influencesage: we start losing our sensibility of taste, which is caused by loss of smell sensibility

IMPLICATIONS ON DESIGN

- dangerous smells (burning, gas leakage) should be signaled where possible by strong messages from several sense modalities

- textile and other surfaces should take account of the diminished tactile sensitivity of elderly people

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ATENTION & CONCENTRATION

The ageing process is associated with impairments in our ability to pay attention to the world around us. The ability to sustain attention and to shift our attention between incoming sources of information decreases as we get older.

The most dramatic change is in our ability to do two or more things at a time.ex. speaking while driving, reading and listen to the radio, following signs and listening

to announcements at train stations or airport terminals.

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Also decline significantly with age. ex. visual synthesis, discriminating a figure from its background (even when color and

brightness contrast are good), and matching complex spatial patterns such as faces, all become more difficult with advancing age.

Spatial orientation is also affected, the ability to find one’s way around a new environment by following a map.

SPATIAL ABILITY

Compared to younger people, other adults tend to have more difficulty on constructional tasks

such as assembling shapes, drawing objects or copying designs.

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Memory for recent events is more affected than memory from remote events, and this is one reason why very elderly people may dwell on the past.

ex. recalling information (street address) is far more difficult than recognizing the information when it is presented.

There are two types of memory task with which older individuals have particularly difficulty

LEARNING & MEMORY

Remembering context: impaired memory for context refers to the common observation that older adults may remember the content of information (a fact, a story,

a joke) but not remember the source of the information (who told it to them, whether they saw it or heard it). An extension of this is that elderly people may not remember whether they actually saw an event taking place, or

only heard a report of it.

Remembering to carry out an intended action: prospective memory, remembering to carry out an action. In the absence of a reminder, older people are far more likely than younger people to forget to perform an action, such as posting a letter, keeping an appointment or taking medication.

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ATENTION & CONCENTRATION / SPATIAL ABILITY / LEARNING & MEMORY

- very rapid presentation of information should be avoided, since older adults process information more slowly than younger adults

IMPLICATIONS ON DESIGN

- The need to make rapid decisions should be avoided

- verbal information should be grammatically simple and the relevant messages made explicit. Written information is more readily absorbed than aural information

- Spatial complex information should be avoided, both for comprehension and performance

- Designs which impose as high demand on memory should be avoided, such as activities involving a sequence of operations which need to be memorized

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CONCLUSION

Well, in spite of this, stereotyped of older people do not apply to the senior citizens of today. Today’s older people are fitter, healthier, wealthier and more independent than ever before.

DESIGN ROLE

GOOD DESIGN CONTRIBUTE TO A HEALTHIER AND INDEPENDENT LIFE

Inclusive design as a crucial role to play in maintaining their health, capability and independence

Inclusive design can also minimize the difficulties encountered by those who have impairments, thereby preventing them from being disabled by their impairments

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