Meeting 1: Target Age Group Discussion

Having read the relevant introductory literature, exchanged ideas via instant messaging, e-mail and informal chats, we decided to have a meeting during which we would discuss a potential user age group and brainstorm concepts for a product.

We commenced with a discussion of both the under 11 and 60+ age-groups, identifying various issues and attributes unique to each, which we did with a cornerstone of the process firmly in our minds: that the atmosphere was to be one in which we could be uninhibited and free to exchange ideas without fear of judgement.

A member of the group acted as a scribe, noting the 'free-flow' of information as it came. The brainstorming session roughly conformed to the following sequence:

1. Statement of the age group.
2. Statements of problems/needs associated with the age group.
3. Expansion/brainstorming of each problem/need etc.
4. Evaluation of the ideas produced.

Displayed above are the brainstorms for the 11-and-under age group and the 60-and-over age group, respectively. Despite having generated numerous ideas for each group, we opted to pursue concepts for the older generation, simply for the fact that some of the potential products (and associated challenges) we had identified seemed far more compelling to approach.

Introduction

The contributors to this web log ("blog") are postgraduate students studying an MSc in Computer Science at the School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham.

As part of the group assessment exercise for the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) 2 module, we have been asked to develop a technological product aimed at a specific age group / generation, namely

1. children under the age of 11
or
2. senior citizens over the age of 60

The purpose of this blog is to document and discuss ideas as well as report on the progress we make at each step of the product development process, with discussions focusing specifically on aspects of human computer interaction. Ultimately we are hoping to design a usable and marketable technological product that addresses the demands of HCI for our chosen age group.

If you're unclear as to what HCI is, you can find a minimalist but informative definition here ,a slide show below representing a brief history (and the possible future) of HCI, and numerous links at the right of this page. Finally, if you have any relevant comments or thoughts, please feel free to share them with us (you can do so via the 'comments' link located below each post).

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