Category: Focus groups

3000 user research and testing sessions with users

We are happy to have achieved the milestone of 3000 user research and testing sessions!

In the last 7 and a half years, COLABORAR supported 3000 user research activities. Requirements gathering, user interviews, diary studies, prototype testing, card sorting, focus groups, in-person usability studies, surveys and pilot studies are the activities carried out.

The COLABORAR team could not be more glad. We learned many things during this time regarding the recruitment of people for research and testing, as well as about carrying research with users. For the next years, we expect to double this milestone!

Focus group with Technicians from Day Care Centres

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Yesterday, Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS hosted a group of technicians from the partner institutions of COLABORAR for a focus group related to the project Active@Home. This way we are promoting the involvement of professionals who work with older adults, so to the solution developed matches their needs and expectations and could be applied in their contexts.

Three Day Care/Living Centres were represented. Their directors and technicians gave us insights about the users of each centre, as they are who better know the different realities in the field. Thus, there are seniors who live at their own place and go the the Day Care/Living Centre during the day, others who live in a Nursing Home and another group who live at their own place and receive assistance from the Home-care Service. These different groups of seniors have different characteristics and needs.

We presented the project Active@Home, which aims to create “exergames” for seniors based on Tai-Chi and dance moves. It will be a new and promising way of exercising because it consists of interactive games and combines physical and cognitive training.

This focus group was very interesting, as enabled us to collect important information about the target group, their preferences and main difficulties, as well as tips and tricks to enhance seniors’ participation in physical activities.

Talking about diet and exercise habits – Focus groups with seniors

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It’s time for field work! We are happy to share with you that researchers from Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS keep on doing research for project SousChef. They wanted to know about the diet and physical exercise of seniors and there is no better way to get to know about these things than hearing from them. In order to do so, we went to the Centres and organized two Focus groups. In one of them, we gathered with some seniors and asked about their experiences with diets, the barriers and strategies. We discovered many things regarding their habits, beliefs and what they think about their doctors’ recommendations.

We learned a lot and had a great time together!

2000 research activities

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We are very glad to announce that COLABORAR recently completed 2000 research activities!

It represents a great accomplishment and we are very grateful to each person who contributed with their time and willingness to participate. The number of activities is proportional to the increase in knowledge and experience in the field of Human-Computer Interaction. Therefore, we are getting better in doing research with and for older adults and our projects become better with the knowledge about seniors.

A big thank you! We’ll keep making more and more activities with your collaboration, for sure!

 

Focus group on wearable sensors: participation of older adults

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Wearable sensors seem promising for increasing safety, independence and well-being among older adults. Some concerns seniors may have, such as falls and chronic diseases, might be minimized and managed in the near future through these small devices, as long as older adults keep them close to their bodies. Wearing a device for 24 hours is only possible if the device is comfortable and if  aesthetic issues are addressed as well. But what are the requests from the seniors? Better to hear from them. In order to do so, COLABORAR organized a Focus group with some seniors to help researchers understand their points of view.

“Does the device resist water? It has to be something like  a watch or a bracelet, because it is important to keep the sensors with us when we are in the shower.”

And how  would you use it outdoors? Do you prefer a device to be attached to your clothes?

“Only if the device is small, we can use it pinned to the sweater.”

Don’t you prefer the device to be pinned to the belt?

“I don’ use a belt very often.”

And in this way, ideas flowed spontaneously. Everyone could express their opinion regarding wearable sensors, as well as their concerns and expectations about using these devices.

COLABORAR thanks our friends from the user network for always accepting the challenges.