What do Elderly Users Want and Need from Fitness Technologies? : Findings from the ELF@Home Project

It is well known that physical exercise has a significant beneficial effect on mental and physical health, and elderly fitness programs are a good and widely accepted approach to prevent frailty. In this chapter, we examine what elderly people actually want and need when it comes to technologies designed to support and encourage their physical fitness. We present the ELF@Home project as a case study, and report design insights and other results from user involvement in the project. User involvement is a key component of the approach and uses methods such as interviews, focus group meetings, early component and prototype tests with users, as well as inputs from medical experts. ELF@Home is a clear example of a “Positive Technology’’ approach exemplifying the scientific and applied use of technology for improving the quality of personal experience through its structuring (by using a goal, rules, and a feedback system) and personal augmentation (to achieve multimodal and mixed experiences). The project proposes the adoption of new technology in everyday life from the perspective of positive psychology, approaching this aim by designing devices and systems that are actually usable and desirable in supporting extended healthy living for this target population.