Designing for Older Adults, Students Use 'Human-Centered' Approach

The Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab run by University of Southern California (USC) undergraduates is this year concentrating on creating products for seniors by following a human-centered design model, reports USC News . "This isn't sort of market research," says lab founder Adlai Wertman. "This is a much deeper dive into understanding communities." Brittingham Executive Director Abby Fifer Mandell notes the community the lab is currently focusing on belongs to the ONEGeneration Senior Enrichment Center, which serves older adults living below the poverty line. "As a country, we haven't tended to the housing needs, the health needs, the consumer goods, the emotional needs ... of this population that will soon be the single largest population in this country," Mandell says. Wertman notes the community is planning an alliance with the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology to produce business opportunities within the world of seniors. During the current semester, teams of students are developing prototypes. One team is developing incontinence underwear for older women based on senior feedback, and Mandell praises their work and that of the other Brittingham teams. "They are having these paradigm-shifting, attitude-changing encounters with populations of people they might not engage with," she says.