The design problem for our graduate pervasive computing course was to design a ubiquitous device to improve the well-being of elderly citizens. Given the opened nature of this problem, we conducted rigorous iterations of user research and concept ideation to develop a final design concept addresses the social and emotional needs of elderly citizens. The ambient plant pot conveys ambient information about local and distant family members’ plant health through a series of LED displays. The plant pot provokes participants to consider how their separated friends and family are doing through the subtle enrichment of a familiar domestic object and practice. Please see our design document and final paper for a more in depth description of our research and outcome.
Our design process is characterized by in depth user research to develop a design that builds an already familar domestic practice and fits within the domestic ecology of our target group.
After conducting a literature review examining the trends in technology use of elderly citizens, we developed a series of personas to guide our explorations of the design space. We performed numerous ethnographic observations within the homes of elderly participants to gain a better understanding of common routines and interactions in their everyday lives. During these contextual interviews we took inventories of meaningful objects within their homes and conducted cultural sense mapping exercises. We then developed a series of cultural probes provoking participants to reflect on their personal and emotional relationships with objects, places, and people in the course of daily life. The themes of caring—the desire to support or nurture social relationships—and sharing—the longing to covey stories through communication—emerged from cultural probe results. Numerous concepts we developed addressed these needs, however the ambient plant pot presented the most compelling case to harmonize with our target population’s existing domestic ecology and patterns of everyday life.
The ambient plant pot uses plant health to convey the broader emotional climate of households to separated members through ambient information.
The ambient plant is intended to connect family members living in separate homes by sensing local plant moisture levels and displaying this information through a series of colors produced by LEDs on a plant pot-based display. An additional display conveys the condition of the separated household plant, allowing members to keep track of each others’ respective plants. In this context, the everyday practice of nurturing houseplants becomes a symbolic act to contemplate the broader emotional climate of a separated loved one’s domestic household. Additionally, when a family member is in close proximity to their plant, the pot in the distant household begins to glow brightly to convey a loved one’s temporary presence. The ultimate desired outcome of the ambient plant is not to replace direct forms of communication (such as telephone and face-to-face interactions), but rather support social connection among separated family members through subtle enrichment of a familiar domestic object and practice.
Odom, W., Jung, H., Hazlewood, W. (2008). Reflective Inquires: a multi-dimensional approach to user research. In workshop proceedings of on Designing for Engaged Experience. OZCHI 2008 Conference.
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