BODY, WORLD AND AFFORDANCE: TOWARDS ENGAGING TECHNOLOGICAL ARTEFACTS FOR OLDER INDIVIDUALS

Abstract

This article addresses the problems older individuals have been observed to encounter when engaging with technological artefacts and how such difficulties may relate to the designers understanding of the normal cognitive ageing process of human beings. This article suggests that these problems may not be the result of limited cognitive abilities of certain older individuals but rather the manner in which designers understand the complex relationship between the mind and actions in the world. The article speculates that an alternative perspective on interactions as affordances that occur between the embodied individual and their ecology may benefit design methodologies deployed in creating engaging technological artefacts for older individuals.