Senior Citizen Engagement /

In the context of global population aging, there is a growing interest in design research activities focused on older adults. During the design process of products and services targeting this demographic, user research activities such as demand mining, product testing, and evaluation often require the engagement of older adult participants. However, designers and researchers face significant challenges in recruiting and engaging older adults to participate in such research, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The project conducted research to examine senior citizen engagement in China and UK cultural contexts, identifying effective approaches to recruit Chinese senior citizens in design research, and exploring accessible online research tools through participatory design workshops to enhance their engagement in online research activities to facilitate long-term knowledge contribution. The project examines the key considerations when recruiting older adults and building trust relationships for participatory design activities. Specifically, we explore the factors that need to be taken into account when establishing initial contact with older adults to ensure their willingness to participate in research.By shedding light on these factors, this article aims to provide insights and recommendations for researchers and practitioners seeking to recruit older adults for design research studies.

Keywords: user recruitment, participatory design activity, older adults, design research