The Characteristics of Living Behavior and Using Furniture and Home Appliances by Elderly-Headed Households

The purpose of this study was to analyze behavioral patterns of elderly residents and to identify the characteristics of using furniture and home appliances by elderly-headed households. For this purpose, field studies that included observation and open-ended interview were conducted with 52 elderly-headed households. The major findings of this study were as follows: elderly-headed households need home appliances with lighter body, lower capacity and simple functions. Furniture for elderly people should be designed to minimize the inconvenience of using western style furniture, also the behavior patterns which are important to the elderly like taking medicine have to be considered. And it is necessary to design furniture and equipments properly to prevent accidents happened in housing. Lastly, because the elderly relies heavily on watching TV, it will be desirable to apply TV-friendly devices such as home networking and home automation. Research results will be useful information on product design to reflect characteristics of elderly and follow-up studies associated with each furniture and appliances and specific living behavior are needed.