Experientializing home appliances to empower the aging population for autonomous living

Designing for an aging population challenges many conventional notions of traditional product design and requires a more detailed description of the attributes that define the breadth of "product" manifestations. By their very nature, products and systems designed for the aging population must better connect their functionality with the user's abilities, environment, and living practices. This approach requires interdisciplinary methods aimed at designing for user experience, focusing on interaction rather than packing each appliance with features and gadgets. Through the careful scripting of product interactions supported by visual form language, meaningful experiences can be generated to improve user confidence and efficiency which ultimately yield empowerment. This Design Research Study uses a collaborative project between Carnegie Mellon School of Design and GE Appliances to introduce some emerging themes and approaches in universal design to empower the aging population in support of autonomous living.