Fourteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Despite the long-term trend of improvement in life expectancy and infant mortality stark inequalities remain. This paper describes a research enquiry exploring the role of design in understanding and the factors leading to health inequalities in older people in a northern city in the UK. Following ethical approval design researchers positioned themselves within a national voluntary agency supporting individuals with high levels of socio-economic need. In phase one of the study the researchers worked to create a series of cultural probes (Gaver et al 1999) that were co-designed with a group of 8 individuals who regularly accessed the agency for support with food and finance. These were used as the basis of interactions and interviews with a further 50 individuals within the broader community to build understanding of the experiences of people living in poverty and factors that exacerbated the challenging situations individuals experienced on a day to day basis and which impacted on quality of life. Analysis of this data highlighted that a significant number of events that had triggered crises occurred as a consequence of poorly designed systems. The final phase of the research visualised these events and made these the basis of an interactive game which was shared as part of a wider exhibition bringing together people living in the communities, health and government agencies. The paper shares lessons learned from the research and the potential of design to make visible key societal issues impacting on health and wellbeing.