Guidelines for Designing Inclusive Wearable Devices for the Aging Population

Abstract

Wearable technology has rapidly evolved during the past decades and become trendy nowadays. There is a steady increase in wearable devices sales every year; however, unfriendly user experience and high abandonment rates show that the future of wearable devices should be more inclusive and engaging. As a designer, it is a responsibility to design technology products for a better experience to accommodate a wide range of people with different abilities and experience. Wearable devices have great potential values to benefit the aging population, while the gap between the product value and current usage is quite huge. This thesis aims to help designers to design an inclusive wearable device for promoting health, especially to accommodate older users’ needs. Based on user experience design (UX) theory, a series of design guidelines are provided with different design stages to help designers create and evaluate their concepts. The design thinking behind this research is using design to influence user’s behavior. Specifically, through inclusive design, UX design, and persuasive design strategy, a designer can understand behavior, enable behavior and finally influence behavior. An ideal inclusive wearable device should not only be accessible to older adults without stigma but should also be attractive to normal consumers because of ease of use.