Kansei approach for the design of functional products for the elderly

Abstract

Based on the theory of Kansei engineering, this study adopts the methods and steps of user research and divides the whole process into three stages: (1) survey and categorization of functional household items for the elderly; (2) interview with the high-involvement elderly regarding their affective preference; (3) questionnaire survey and statistical analysis of the representative functional household item for the elderly. Early results showed that (1) in terms of product search ratio, mobility assisting and communication products have the highest proportion; (2) in terms of product sales ratio, mobility assisting products reaches 25 percent and footwear products are the highest among them; (3) interviews with high-involvement elderly show that footwear with 40.8 percent is the highest demand among functional household items. Therefore, footwear products will be used as example to conduct subsequent study on Kansei preference and affective design for the elderly.