Fostering digital literacy through a mobile demo-kit development: Co-designing didactic prototypes with older adults

Abstract

Developing toolkits as a support of participatory design is a common approach when designing with and for older adults. The key aspect in designing digital tools is digital literacy of the participants and how to sustain it during the project but also after its end. Yet, not enough attention has been paid to how to use such toolkits to make PD projects results sustainable. To address this issue, we are developing a mobile demo-kit, a set of didactic prototypes, which aims to foster older participants' digital literacy and hence make findings sustainable. We illustrate it on a practice-based study, during which we conducted participatory observation, a series of interviews and organized a series of participatory workshops online with older adults. Our preliminary findings contribute to discussion on making PD with and for older adults sustainable by focusing on what older adults can learn during the PD, how to support this process but also how to communicate the findings further on.