Envisioning Design @ Home

This paper presents A new method which involves users in the home in the design process. It is common to involve users in requirements generation, but rarely in product inception or design. With technology fast encroaching into domestic environments we need to explore the contribution that the general public can make to future design, and to understand its strengths and limitations. Part of a study is reported which involved five households in central Scotland, who were each visited on three occasions, using a new investigative framework. We demonstrate that the general public can generate design ideas and that valuable contributions can be expected both from children and from the elderly.