Design Idea I

Interactive Walking Guide by GPS

One of retired people’s favourite pastimes is walking. Instead of having to use a local county map to work out where footpaths lead to, they could use an interactive walking guide. It could be a PDA style device which displays a map on the screen of local surroundings, landmarks, and footpaths. They could connect it to the Internet to receive future updates and people could build up a database of their favourite walks. The PDA could also be tracked by GPS, just like the car navigation solutions, and update the ambler’s position depending on their location. The product would be aimed at retired people who enjoy walking as a pastime, with an age range of between 65 and 75. The PDA would be designed in such a way, it would not be complicated to use and mimic that of the GPS car navigation solutions, such as the TomTom.

It could be easily extended to include walking through towns and to help people enjoy the architecture of the older villages of Britain, or places such as National Trust properties, which are very popular with the elderly.

Product Opportunities

Before coming up with the product ideas we decided to brainstorm the possible areas that are most geared towards the elderly. We met as a group and were able to put forward our ideas and finalise which were the most popular to explore.

Tris - I think one of the main regions we could expose to develop new products, is either in the home or for leisure. As the elderly have a lot of time on their hands, they tend to spend alot of time, either in a home environment, or taking part in leisure activities, therefore i think it would be best to choose a product around this. Hopefully something not too technological too, which mimics a device that is already present in their lives.

Ben - I agree that a product that will be used frequently by the elderly will be a product we want to design and therefore i believe that as elderly peoples time is usally split between home and leisure a product should be developed in this area.

Characteristics of Young People

Here is our team brainstorm for a stereotypical child aged 4-11. As you can see, we found it hard to characterise their abilities, and we found that a few years age difference could produce totally different characteristics.

Characteristics of Elderly People

Here is our team brainstorm for the general characteristics of elderly people. Some may be incorrect stereotypes, however, must be taken into consideration when creating product ideas. Old people are definately the way forward it seems. We have created more characteristics for them than for young people, which means when it comes to product ideas we will have more directions to choose from. I have also had more experience with the elderly than with the young. What does everyone else think?

Tris - I also think using the elderly as our domain is a good idea. As the product should be user-centered, it would be a lot easier to get in contact with them and interview them than children.