Research On The Design Of Elderly Furniture Based On Empathy

After entering the 21 st century,China’s elderly population has accelerated significantly,and the proportion of the elderly population has increased year by year.Although the pension problem is serious,the growing elderly consumer groups also bring new opportunities for the vigorous development of the “ silver economy ”.In particular,the new generation of elderly groups have changed their lifestyle and consumption concept.They not only focus on the basic form and practical function of suitable products for the elderly,but also attach importance to the emotional value and spiritual connotation conveyed by them,and pursue high-quality pension life.As the foundation of creating pension space,the furniture for the elderly always affects the quality of life of the elderly.Therefore,taking the user demand as the center,grasping the development status of the elderly furniture market in China and designing the elderly furniture that satisfies the elderly users have become the key to opening the elderly furniture market.In this paper,the concept of empathy is introduced into the design of suitable furniture for the elderly.Based on the theory of emotional eject and empathy in empathy theory,the demand for suitable furniture for the elderly is taken as the starting point,and the user-centered advantage of empathy design method is used to obtain the demand data of the elderly.By quantifying the demand indicators,the design principles and strategies of elderly furniture based on objective data are proposed,which provides new ideas for the design of elderly furniture and promotes the development of the elderly furniture market.Firstly,based on theoretical research,this paper focuses on the analysis of the current situation of the market of elderly furniture and finds out the problems in the design of elderly furniture.Secondly,with the gradual steps of empathy,the empathy design method is classified according to the three levels of “ user participation ”,“ designer guide user participation ” and “ designer and user participation ” to determine the empathy analysis process of old furniture.Subsequently,the target user is defined as a new elderly group between 60 and 75 years old,and the user is investigated from three levels of observation,guidance and immersion to summarize the empathy needs.Through the establishment of the empathic demand index of the design of the aged furniture,the weight level of the empathic demand index is determined by the weight ranking,which provides data support for the design of the aged furniture.Then,according to the importance of empathy demand,six design principles of elderly furniture based on the concept of empathy are proposed,namely,aesthetic fit,safety and comfort,functional straightforwardness,interactive intelligence,emotional resonance.And put forward “ to improve the affinity of old furniture ”,“ to improve the human care of old furniture products ” and “ fto improve the emotional resonance of old furniture ” three levels of old furniture design strategy.Finally,through the combination of previous analysis,it is determined to take leisure seats for the elderly as the practical object.According to the empathy needs of the elderly,the design goals of the furniture for the elderly at the physical sensory level,behavioral interaction level and emotional linkage level are completed.The design evaluation method is used to verify the effect of empathy design,which provides practical basis for the design and research of the furniture for the elderly based on the concept of empathy.