| The majority of people with dementia live at home. Consequently, they are, to varying degrees, users of home technologies. Yet we know very little about the design of these technologies for this population, including suitable design resources and approaches, analytical tools, and other key considerations. To gain a panoramic view of this topic, three perspectives were explored: developers, people with dementia (PwD), and their caregiving significant others (SO). The first group has never been studied; and the second, in this context, only more recently.;In Study I, developers were surveyed on topics ranging from design resources to technology values. Developers could name no resources dedicated to technology design for people with dementia; and technical specialists were aware of few design frameworks to support their work. Values emphasised cost, learnability, self-confidence, and usability. Emotional variability was also cited as an important consideration as was empathy. In Study II, PwD stressed usability and learnability as important technology values. Participants also discussed their emotional responses connected to technology use, particularly their frustrations. In demonstrations of phones, almost all users experienced difficulties placing a call. In Study III, SOs valued usability, learnability and self-confidence most; and highlighted user diversity, familiarity, and emotional factors as other key considerations.;Over the course of the project, design factors were identified and design implications, inferred. Some implications referred to human factors and others to systems design considerations. Furthermore, a systems analysis of PwD using phones was conducted to address the question of how to analyse a home technology system in this field. Other key findings include the diversity of PwD (e.g. age, comorbidities); the importance of emotion; and the value that users place on learnable, usable designs. Finally, empathy emerged as an important design approach, both as a way to address diversity and to access users' emotional lives. |
