Speaking from Experience: Co-designing E-textile Projects with Older Adult Fiber Crafters

Ben Jelen, Amanda Lazar, Christina Harrington, Alisha Pradhan, Katie A. Siek

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Researchers support race, gender, and age diverse groups of people to create with maker electronics. These groups include older adults, who are often overlooked as not interested or capable of learning new technologies due to ageist stereotypes. One approach, often involving e-textiles, leverages crafting as a bridge to broaden participation in making. We investigated ways to broaden participation in maker electronics for older adults by remotely co-designing e-textile projects with 6 older adult crafters over the course of 5 workshop sessions for a total of 45 hours. We developed a deeper understanding of their practices, identifying a Planner-Improviser Spectrum for how they approached their craft, and created medium fidelity prototypes. Our design implications draw on our participants' crafting experience and their experience in the workshop to highlight what e-textile toolkit designers can learn from skilled older adult crafters, such as selecting familiar materials, supporting aesthetic goals, and making electronics more attainable.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationTEI 2023 - Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)9781450399777
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 26 2023
Externally publishedYes
Event17th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, TEI 2023 - Warsaw, Poland
Duration: Feb 26 2023Mar 1 2023

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference17th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, TEI 2023
Country/TerritoryPoland
CityWarsaw
Period2/26/233/1/23

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Software
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Computer Networks and Communications

Keywords

  • Older adults
  • co-design
  • crafters
  • crafting
  • crafting technology.
  • electronic toolkits
  • maker electronics
  • remote workshop

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