Above: The final product.
PIECE OF FAMILY
Designer: Sanne Kistemaker MSc
Icsid member school: Delft University of Technology
ABOUT THE DESIGN
Piece of Family is an online communication tool to support intergenerational contact within families with the grandparents as the initiators. The purpose is to invite elderly to the world of their grownup children and grandchildren in order to bridge the contact gap that may exist between them.
The problem
With the current advancements in communication technology, and the fast-paced lifestyles of younger generations, elderly populations are often left behind, being less able to adapt to new trends. This 'contact gap' often separates the elderly from their own families during the time of their lives when they are in need of contact the most.
The solution
As a solution to the 'contact gap', Piece of Family offers a Family Weblog to which all family members can contribute stories, pictures and other things in their own communication style.
The elderly obtain a physical product to use in their homes, which allows them to easily post messages while the rest of the family maintains contact through a regular blogging site online. The Piece of Family is a book containing a scanning device and a notebook. On this notebook they can write messages and place photos or other flat objects. They close the book, press one button and the whole page is scanned and placed on the Family Weblog. It is a 'what you see is what you get' type of device, so what the elderly see is what the other family members see. This makes the handling intuitive and thus very understandable for the elderly. The elderly can see their Family Weblog on their television and scroll through it by a remote control. When the living rooms of elderly are built around their television, reviewing the messages can become a social activity.
The rest of the family can read the messages on their computer, anywhere, anytime. They can respond by typing a message, adding photos and publishing it on the web. All messages are ordered chronologically, marked by date of posting and name of the author.
The design process
In order to design Piece of Family, several methodologies and techniques for user-centered design were used throughout the process. Among these techniques were Contextmapping, Vision in Product Design and Co-creation. In order to design products that fit into the lives of the end-users, these methods involved the end-user in the design process. This is necessary for creating adequate and valuable products. The project was concluded with an experiential working prototype tested by the elderly and their family, and evaluated afterwards.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Sanne Kistemaker is a graduate of the Technical University Delft Industrial Design program. She graduated in 2007 with a Masters Design for Interaction.
AWARD
Piece of Family received the Design for All Award at the Dutch Design Awards 2007.
The Dutch Design Awards aims to appreciate excellent Dutch design and to reflect the position of Dutch design to the world market.
www.dutchdesignawards.nl
PIECE OF FAMILY
Designer: Sanne Kistemaker MSc
Icsid member school: Delft University of Technology
ABOUT THE DESIGN
Piece of Family is an online communication tool to support intergenerational contact within families with the grandparents as the initiators. The purpose is to invite elderly to the world of their grownup children and grandchildren in order to bridge the contact gap that may exist between them.
The problem
With the current advancements in communication technology, and the fast-paced lifestyles of younger generations, elderly populations are often left behind, being less able to adapt to new trends. This 'contact gap' often separates the elderly from their own families during the time of their lives when they are in need of contact the most.
The solution
As a solution to the 'contact gap', Piece of Family offers a Family Weblog to which all family members can contribute stories, pictures and other things in their own communication style.
The elderly obtain a physical product to use in their homes, which allows them to easily post messages while the rest of the family maintains contact through a regular blogging site online. The Piece of Family is a book containing a scanning device and a notebook. On this notebook they can write messages and place photos or other flat objects. They close the book, press one button and the whole page is scanned and placed on the Family Weblog. It is a 'what you see is what you get' type of device, so what the elderly see is what the other family members see. This makes the handling intuitive and thus very understandable for the elderly. The elderly can see their Family Weblog on their television and scroll through it by a remote control. When the living rooms of elderly are built around their television, reviewing the messages can become a social activity.
The rest of the family can read the messages on their computer, anywhere, anytime. They can respond by typing a message, adding photos and publishing it on the web. All messages are ordered chronologically, marked by date of posting and name of the author.
The design process
In order to design Piece of Family, several methodologies and techniques for user-centered design were used throughout the process. Among these techniques were Contextmapping, Vision in Product Design and Co-creation. In order to design products that fit into the lives of the end-users, these methods involved the end-user in the design process. This is necessary for creating adequate and valuable products. The project was concluded with an experiential working prototype tested by the elderly and their family, and evaluated afterwards.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Sanne Kistemaker is a graduate of the Technical University Delft Industrial Design program. She graduated in 2007 with a Masters Design for Interaction.
AWARD
Piece of Family received the Design for All Award at the Dutch Design Awards 2007.
The Dutch Design Awards aims to appreciate excellent Dutch design and to reflect the position of Dutch design to the world market.
www.dutchdesignawards.nl