As societies worldwide rapidly enter an era of population aging, the design field has increasingly reflected on how to respond to the diverse and growing needs of older adults through more inclusive and age-friendly design approaches. However, existing research often positions older adults merely as information providers or passive participants, rarely granting them substantive roles in decision-making and co-design processes. As a result, design outcomes frequently fail to adequately reflect their lived experiences and real needs. In contrast, older adults’ accumulated life experiences and practical wisdom can be transformed into profound and concrete design insights.

This study therefore aims to explore how heterogeneity among older adults is manifested through diverse participation experiences, role transformations, and empowerment trajectories in co-design contexts. Through a literature-based analysis, this research identifies multiple roles that older adults may assume in co-design, including narrative contributors, community leaders, design inspirers, atypical users, creative interpreters, critical dialogue partners, and validators. These roles reveal how older adults shape design knowledge and influence decision-making in different yet complementary ways.

Building on this mapping, the study seeks to synthesize these roles into a set of operational and inclusive co-creation strategies, and to propose guidelines and tools for age-friendly design workshops. These outputs aim to support more empathetic and equitable interaction systems research and practice by enhancing older adults’ capacity to articulate their experiences and knowledge within co-design processes.

Authors:
Ching-Wen Huang, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Chung-Ching Huang, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Chia-Han Yang, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Ms. Huang is currently a master student in the Institute of Creative Industries Design at National Cheng Kung University. She is passionate about UX and service design, with interdisciplinary experience across both the technology and public sectors.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/irene-huang-29a671383

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