A Human Factors Approach for Designing, Developing and Deploying Technology for Aging in the Right Place

Technology to support aging in the right place (AIRP) has much promise, but the potential is not yet being met. In their paper outlining the opportunities and challenges in the use of technology to support AIRP, Kokorelias et al. (2024) provided a roadmap for the next steps. Our commentary focuses on two questions they raised: (1) How can technology be designed and developed to better meet the specific needs, preferences and abilities of older adults? (2) How do we evaluate technology in natural settings? Widespread technology adoption will emerge from consideration of the users; an understanding of their unique needs; iterative participatory design and user testing; and support for facilitating conditions to ease deployment into people’s lives and minimize abandonment.