The Research And Practice Of Participatory Design Involving The Elderly

There are a lot of product design theories and methods around the world, and the design processes vary a lot in different places. Design concept is also changing with time. Vulnerable groups in the society are drawing more and more attention, especially the elderly. In response, various design methods begin to appear. Some methods are of great value to product design for the elderly while others have theoretical defects. In recent years, the method of User Centered Design has gained popularity as it effectively enhances user participation, which will greatly facilitate the designing process. This method is quite popular in the West, but less so in China.Involving the elderly users in the designing process is an innovation that assigns the users the major role. Such an approach is centered on the elderly users, with the society acting as the platform, in which a co-design process is conducted. The role the elderly take experiences a change from a passive one to a positive one. They are no longer the subjects of study, but have become the main actor in the designing process. This study is based on a full recognition of the social value of the elderly, giving itself an edge in this field of study. The elderly have rich experience in life. There are so much about them that is worthy of our study and exploration.This study is not limited to theoretical research, experiments are also included in which the elderly are invited to participate in the design. This paper proves that this approach plays a key role in product design for the elderly. Besides, problems detected from the experiments are also adjusted timely. By providing different perspectives including design, psychology, sociology, and marketing, this study proves to be a useful reference for organizations and individuals tasked with product design for the elderly.