User Requirements of Furniture Influenced by a Move to a Senior Housing

Abstract

User-centred design approaches within the field of furniture design for old people involves an act of embracing and balancing various end-user needs and assessing their relative importance for the product experience. It is often assumed that older people’s physiological needs dominate their other needs. In the present study, three focus group interviews were carried out with the exploratory purpose of gaining an understanding of how people feel and think about changes when moving to and living in an apartment in senior housing, outside the housing market, and what impact this has on their opinions of furniture and other interior products. Twelve people aged 59–93 took part. The outcomes of the focus group interviews point to demands on products that support the physical, psychological and social changes that relocation and aging may bring, and correspond to an independent and self-determinant identity. User requirements related to usability and affective product experience for the design of totally new or improved products are proposed. The paper discusses the complexity in the research assignment to communicate and bring end-user knowledge and experiences to life, and suggests that designers will benefit from carrying out or being involved in user-centred research.