The role of tea parties to elicit technology requirements to support the mobility of older adults

Mobility is fundamental to aging well, maintaining independence and quality of life. Physical mobility is a fundamental component of overall mobility. This paper presents our "technology tea party" methodology. We have used this method to explore older adults' reaction to utilizing different technologies to maintain their mobility, in particular, games consoles to promote exercise at home. At our tea party, participants experienced problems with initially getting started with the console but with minimal support were able to interact with the system and start to explore the benefits they could gain from using such a system. They saw the benefits not only as exercise but also as promoting social interaction. We are now using this method in the design process for an "intelligent" walking aid to improve the ability of older adults to walk around shopping centres. In this paper we advocate the involvement of older adults throughout the design process and we present tea parties as a potential method to use in early stages to elicit requirements.