This workshop will be a forum where educators from different design fields can meet and exchange experiences. The aim of the workshop is to find the best practice methods to teach designers how to design for and with children and/or the elderly. Interested participants are invited to prepare a short informal presentation describing, both theoretically and practically, their best teaching method for a specific user group and a case where it has been practiced.
Today, there is a growing awareness of the needs of children and the elderly. The innovative use of designs specifically targeted towards the special needs of these groups can contribute greatly to the improvement of their wellbeing, preventing them from facing difficult or stressful situations. However, the ‘design for all’ movement has focused mainly on people with impairments, and less work has been done to develop design methods and practices aimed at addressing the needs of children and the elderly. Accordingly, more work is needed to improve the design methods and practices dedicated to products for children and the elderly. It is necessary not only to study and improve methodologies but also to transfer the gained knowledge to new generations of designers to ensure its use in design production. A combination of current best practices, design explorations and teaching experiments should suggest new approaches to design for the targeted groups. The overall aim of this workshop is to find ways to modernise design curricula with a specific focus on children and the elderly.
In this workshop, the participants’ experiences will form the basis for the content. Interested participants are invited to prepare a short informal presentation describing, both theoretically and practically, their best teaching method for a specific user group and a case where it has been practiced. The presentations will be gathered and distributed among the participants so that each participant will leave with new teaching methods and materials. The presentations will be followed by a discussion on similarities and differences between them and by concluding remarks.
The goal of this workshop is to develop new directions in teaching design for and with children and/or the elderly, and to learn how different design disciplines can contribute to the topic by sharing and learning from each other.
Researchers, practitioners, educators and designers from different disciplines involved in and/or interested in designing for and with children and the elderly, both practically and methodologically, are welcome.
Timeframe: 3h
Organisers:
Eva Eriksson , Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden; eva.eriksson@chalmers.se
Olof Torgersson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Open for registration: 25