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Beyond Functionality: Co-Designing Voice User Interfaces for Older Adults' Well-being

Xinhui Hu, Smit Desai, Morgan Lundy, Jessie Chin

TL;DR

When encouraged to share their needs within a social context, older adults revealed a range of sensory, aesthetic, hedonic, and social preferences and, more importantly, the specific personas of VUIs, which inform the relative importance of these factors in VUI design.

Abstract

The global population is rapidly aging, necessitating technologies that promote healthy aging. Voice User Interfaces (VUIs), leveraging natural language interaction, offer a promising solution for older adults due to their ease of use. However, current design practices often overemphasize functionality, neglecting older adults' complex aspirations, psychological well-being, and social connectedness. To address this gap, we conducted co-design sessions with 20 older adults employing an empathic design approach. Half of the participants interacted with a probe involving health information learning, while the others focused on a probe related to exercise. This method engaged participants in collaborative activities to uncover non-functional requirements early in the design process. Results indicate that when encouraged to share their needs within a social context, older adults revealed a range of sensory, aesthetic, hedonic, and social preferences and, more importantly, the specific personas of VUIs. These insights inform the relative importance of these factors in VUI design.

Beyond Functionality: Co-Designing Voice User Interfaces for Older Adults' Well-being

TL;DR

When encouraged to share their needs within a social context, older adults revealed a range of sensory, aesthetic, hedonic, and social preferences and, more importantly, the specific personas of VUIs, which inform the relative importance of these factors in VUI design.

Abstract

The global population is rapidly aging, necessitating technologies that promote healthy aging. Voice User Interfaces (VUIs), leveraging natural language interaction, offer a promising solution for older adults due to their ease of use. However, current design practices often overemphasize functionality, neglecting older adults' complex aspirations, psychological well-being, and social connectedness. To address this gap, we conducted co-design sessions with 20 older adults employing an empathic design approach. Half of the participants interacted with a probe involving health information learning, while the others focused on a probe related to exercise. This method engaged participants in collaborative activities to uncover non-functional requirements early in the design process. Results indicate that when encouraged to share their needs within a social context, older adults revealed a range of sensory, aesthetic, hedonic, and social preferences and, more importantly, the specific personas of VUIs. These insights inform the relative importance of these factors in VUI design.
Paper Structure (40 sections, 5 figures)

This paper contains 40 sections, 5 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Older adults with VUIs
  4. Co-designing with older adults
  5. Approaching Non-Functional Needs
  6. Probing the Non-functional Needs
  7. Meeting the Needs with Kansei Design
  8. System personas in VUIs
  9. Method
  10. Participants
  11. Apparatus and Materials
  12. Apparatus
  13. Demographic Questionnaire
  14. Design Probes
  15. Procedure
  16. ...and 25 more sections

Figures (5)

  • Figure 1: Pictures of participants seated in front of a Google Mini Smart Speaker in the lab setting, with various pens, papers, whiteboards, markers, and weights provided to them.
  • Figure 2: The Experiment Procedure Flow
  • Figure 3: Co-designers taking two different approaches to creating co-design products while imagining user and AI conversations and creating VA characteristics, using the co-design prompts and materials provided.
  • Figure 4: Older Adult Participants's Preferred Content and Involvement with VUI
  • Figure 5: Personas developed during co-design sessions fused into four archetypes: an experienced doctor, a supportive nurse, a health buddy, and a listening aunt