Participatory design for challenging user groups - A case study

Motivation - To develop the interaction design of an intelligent assistive device and environment for elderly people suffering from disease-related cognitive deficits within an interdisciplinary and international development team. Research approach - Combining two different participatory development methods in order to involve both the development team and the real end-user. Findings/Design - Scenarios were used to develop an idea of interaction design which were later adapted involving the real end-users in a operational prototyping phase. Research limitations/Implications - Operational prototyping is done involving 21 end-users. Evaluation with a larger group is an open issue. Originality/Value - The research makes a contribution of how to involve both application domain experts and cognitively impaired end-users in the development process of interactive systems. The value added consists of a successful field study and experience how to create an efficient workflow. Take away message - Participatory design for people suffering from cognitive deficits is challenging but possible.