Applying human-centered system design to the development of a tool for service innovation

Abstract

According to the 2019 Revision of World Population Prospects, by 2050, people aged 65 and above will account for 25% of the population in Europe and Northern America. The number of people aged 80 or above is estimated to triple to 426 million by this time. Global aging has widespread implications for our society. With the emergence of technological and biomedical advances, people now hold higher expectations for their physical and mental health throughout their longer lifespans. People expect to live not only longer, but also better, calling for improved quality of living and working environments to support later adulthood (Coughlin, 2017). This new longevity presents complex opportunities for participatory and systems-oriented design thinking and processes (Nightingale & Rhodes, 2015; Lee, Zhu et al., 2020). It has become more important than ever for multidisciplinary teams of designers and engineers to contend with older age, including considering the role of immersive empathy and service tools in educating innovators on the importance of global aging and moving them towards collective action in making more inclusive decisions in their work. The purpose of our study is to rebuild and refine a current age empathy tool, AGNES (Age Gain Now Empathy System), through the application of a Human-Centered System Design (HCSD) framework (Lee et al., 2021; Lee, Rudnik et al., 2020).