Designing speculative household cleaning for Older Adults

Designing speculative household cleaning products for older adults Susan P. Wyche Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing Human-Centered Computing Program GVU Center TSRB 85th 5th Street NW Atlanta, GA 30332 spwyche@cc.gatech.edu Abstract Aging in place is a high priority for today’s elderly population, but little is known about how age affects mundane domestic activities. To make older adult’s desire a reality, design researchers must continue to understand elders’ needs and design products that respond to them. Presented is a human-centered approach to designing cleaning products. The project resulted in: 1) an initial understanding how aging changes older adults’ ability to clean their homes and 2) a collection of speculative cleaning products that demonstrate how greater empathy for elderly users can motivate innovative design. Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Copyright © 2005 AIGA | The professional association for design. Keywords Design Methods, Elders, Ethnography, Home, Speculative Design, Human-Centered Design. 1 Project/problem statement Working as the project’s primary researcher and designer I hoped to understand aging’s impact on housework for the purpose of design. The study was motivated by: 1) older adult’s desire to “age in place” instead of in a nursing home or in an assisted living facility. If this is to happen, elders must be able to perform mundane household tasks. 2) Despite increased attention to design for domestic spaces, research examining housework remains scarce. In addition to achieving its goals, the project resulted in an acute sense of the need to conceptualize users based on their experiences instead of my own. User-centered design methods are becoming a routine part of the product development process; however, there remains a tendency for the design community to conceptualize a user population based on itself. Sociologist, Madeline Akrich describes this as “Imethodology,” or when the designer replaces his or her professional hat with that of the layman [1]. If design hopes to facilitate aging in place product developers must reflect on how they differ from today’s diverse user population. Product designers are typically male, able-bodied, and between the ages of 22 and 45-years old [4]. Their abilities naturally differ from today’s elderly demographic. Recognizing how one differs from the group under study is a fundamental step anthropologists take before entering the field. Anthropologists understand that in order to theorize about other people’s behavior, they must be conscious of their own. Despite increased use of anthropological research methods (i.e. ethnography) in design, critical reflection on how designers consciously or unconsciously map their personal experiences onto their work is lacking. Increased awareness about how designers differ from the larger user population is a potential way to limit I-methodology. Solution Process The process mirrors those used by IDEO [5] and the former E-Lab [8]. Their methods are well-suited for understanding the broad patterns of everyday life that are relevant for the conception of new products. This human-centered approach also acknowledges the need for flexibility, reflection and subjectivity in design; themes appropriate for making sense of life’s messy nature. Developing mass-marketed products was not my goal, instead I wanted to create conceptual or speculative designs [3] meant to draw attention to changes that accompany growing older. The process is comprised of three stages: Guerilla Research, Historical Analysis, and Guided Tours. Guerilla Research Guerilla research is an informal, situated, and opportunistic way to learn as much as possible about a topic in a limited amount of time. 2 Figure 1. Housewares aisle at local grocery store Challenge Figure 2. 1930’s advertisement fddfdf Poorly designed products make it difficult for elders to “age in place” [4]. Arguably, designer’s lack of empathy for older users leads to bottles that are difficult for arthritic hands to open, labels that are frustrating for aged eyes to read, and super-sized containers that are troublesome to lift. I started by reflecting on my cleaning experiences. How often did I mop? Why did I store cleaning supplies underneath the kitchen sink? Do others buy the least expensive products or do they remain loyal to a particular brand? These questions led me to the housewares aisle at grocery stores, stimulated discussions with friends and family, and prompted me to conduct expert interviews with aging specialists. Indeed, my experience as a 29-year old, able bodied, female who prefers to avoid housework was not representative of today’s diverse and increasingly older user population. Historical Analysis I began to understand housework today but was curious to know its history.1 The cultural themes that shaped elders’ lifetimes differ from ones that influenced mine. Understanding how housework became synonymous with women’s work and the “labor saving” debate provided insights into participant’s cleaning experience. Historically, technology developers have conceived of products thinking they will make performing tasks faster and easier. However, domestic technologies that are proposed as labor saving and efficient have had a different impact. Research suggests new technologies increase time spent doing housework rather than decrease it [7]. Household cleanliness standards rose during the twentieth century, thus creating higher expectation for women to produce clean bathtubs, sinks, and toilets. With the 1 introduction of the electronic washer, laundering increased because there was greater demand for clean clothes. Indeed, novel cleaning approaches often divert time from one task to another, thus creating “more work for mother” [2]. Designing products guided by improved efficiency seemed inappropriate for a largely retired user group free from the demands of rigorous schedule. Instead I chose not repeat this theme and conceptualized products grounded in elders’ experiences. Guided Tours In-context observation was the next step. Twenty elders were recruited (4 males and 16 females), ranging in age from 69 to 91. Attempts were made to create a heterogeneous a sample. Participants were married, single, and widowed. Living situations varied, some lived with partners in single-family homes, others in one or two bedroom apartments. Three lived in retirement communities and two in assisted living facilities. Guided tours in which participants showed me around their homes took place. Having access to the social and material aspects of elders’ lives enabled them to recall their intentions for doing something. I was able to get descriptive narratives about how participants cleaned their bathrooms when we were actually in it. I would also ask participants to re-enact washing windows, dusting, and other parts of their housework routines. It became clear that cleaning products were not in-tune with older adults’ need and several design opportunities existed. For more on the housework’s history refer to Susan Strasser’s Never Done: A History of American Housework. 3 Results Following the tours I immersed myself in the field notes, transcribed interviews, and photographs collected during the research phase. The following speculative designs emerged and were presented to S.C. Johnson’s Consumer and Products Insights Department. Book Bottles Bending, stretching, and reaching are effortless for me, but for users twice my age these activities are strenuous. Cleaning products are usually stored in overhead cabinets or underneath sinks and accessing them becomes difficult with age. This finding inspired “Book Bottles” (Figure 2). Instead of hiding supplies in hard to reach places, I suggest making them a seamless part of the domestic environment. I accomplish this by proposing a spray bottle shaped like a book. Untouchables More than half the participants reported receiving assistance with housework. When asked if there were items they did not want help cleaning three immediately pointed to their prized Hummel collections.2 I have never purchased a Hummel, and placing so much value on one seemed peculiar. Such precious and delicate objects demanded an equally gentle cleaning process. “Untouchables” (Figure 3) is a cleaning system appropriate for prized possessions’ 2 upkeep. Objects carefully soak in a padded tub full of “Delicates” cleaning solution. Figure 2. Book Bottles Figure 3. Untouchables Hummels are popular figurines created by a Bavarian nun in the early 1900’s. They represent themes of youth and love. For more information see: http://www.mihummel.com. Calorie Counting Spray Bottle I receive feedback regarding the number of miles run and calories burned when exercising on a treadmill. Older adults described housework as exercise; however, 4 cleaning products do not provide performance feedback. The “Calorie Counting Spray Bottle” (Figure 4) is a concept that maps exercise equipments’ properties onto a spray bottle. Inside the bottle’s spraying mechanism is an odometer that changes when the trigger is pulled. For example, if you applied seven squirts of glass cleaner to a surface, the odometer would read “7.” The bottle’s label has a chart that informs users how many calories they burn after cleaning. Fifty pulls may equal 5 calories burned. No research was conducted to determine the number of calories (if any) that would be burned while spraying cleaner. Figure 5. “Pez” Packaging Figure 4. Calorie Counting Spray Bottle “Pez” packaging Cleaning wipes are a new and popular way to clean surfaces. They are typically packaged in a canister or sealed plastic pouch. Accessing wipes proved to be difficult for participants because the packaging was not intuitive or required a range of motions not easy for arthritic hands. When asked to imagine a simpler package, a participant described the apparatus on a Pez candy dispenser. I reappropriated the mechanism in this wipes packaging concept (Figure 6). The plastic box features a large opening which facilitates a wide range hand motions. Users place their hand in the opening and pull-up; this activates a Pez-like spring mechanism which dispenses a wipe. Hands and Knees Floor Polish “I was a hands-and-knees washer and still want to be, but I can’t get up and down like I used to. You have to be down on your hands and knees to really do the job.” This sentiment was echoed by nearly every participant. 5 Elders miss the thoroughness that comes with being on the floor cleaning. “Hands and knees” floor polish responds to this in a playful way. It is a floor polish made with hand and knee-shaped action scrubbers. The fictitious product cleans as powerfully, thoroughly and effectively as a person down on their hands and knees. Although we can never fully understand users’ varying interests, skills, and behaviors, we can become more perceptive of our own. Doing so will limit Imethodology’s affects and open new spaces for design. References [1] Akrich, M. “User representations: Practices, methods, and sociology.” In Managing Technology in Society: The Approach of Constructive Technology Assessment, ed. A.Rip, T.J. Misa, and J. Schot. London: Pinter Press. 1995. [2] Cowan, R.S. More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave. New York, NY: Basic Books. 1985. [3] Dunne, A., and Gaver, W. “The Pillow: Artistdesigners in the digital age.” Proceedings of CHI 1997 Companion (Atlanta, GA), ACM Press. 1997. Figure 7. Hands and Knees Floor Polish These concepts were well-received by S.C. Johnson, because they challenged the company’s traditional ways of thinking. In corporate settings designers can become stymied by their familiarity with their company’s products; speculative designs provide a fresh perspective. [4] Hancock, H., Fisk, A., and Rogers, W. “Everyday Products: Easy to Use . . . or Not?” Ergonomics in Design, 9, 2001. [5] Kelley, T. The Art of Innovation. New York, NY: Doubleday. 2003. [6] Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), IDSA Compensation Study – Twelfth Edition. [7] Vanek, J. “Time Spent in Housework.” Scientific America, 231, 116-120. 1974. [8] Wasson, C. “Ethnography in the Field of Design.” Human Organization, 59, 4, 2000. Conclusion Presented is a human-centered approach to designing household cleaning products. The project contributes to our understanding of elders’ daily activities and demonstrates that human-centered design is appropriate for developing speculative concepts. The user population is as diverse, complicated, and multi-faceted as the products we create for them. Acknowledgements I am grateful to S.C. Johnson and Company for supporting this project. In addition, I thank Phoebe Sengers, Lorraine Maxwell, and Johanna Schoss for their attentive advising during my time at Cornell University 6 7