Senior DT - A Design Thinking Method to Improve Requirements Engineering for Elderly Citizens

Requirement engineers face challenges in assessing the needs of elderly citizens, who typically differ a lot in terms of experiences, perspectives, and cognition. Design Thinking (DT) is a promising methodology for overcoming these barriers because it offers a structured approach for assessing users’ needs and developing new ideas. However, DT needs to be adapted to the specifics of older participants to fully grasp these users’ insights. For instance, the endurance of older participants is limited, and collaboration with other stakeholders is hampered due to decreasing physical, cognitive, and psychological capacity. This research utilizes a design science approach for developing the SeniorDT methodology. The core objectives of the SeniorDT method are the support of the older participants’ engagement, the gathering of deep user insights, and the facilitation of the elderlies’ collaboration with other workshop participants. The method is tested in a real-life workshop setting and evaluated by observation, group discussions and interviews.