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Understanding barriers in the design process for elderly’s positive emotion regulation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2025

Yong Jun Park
Affiliation:
UNIST - Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea
Chajoong Kim*
Affiliation:
School of Design and Human Engineering, UNIST, Ulsan, South Korea
Jungkyoon Yoon
Affiliation:
College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

Abstract:

As the global elderly population grows, emotional challenges unique to this demographic are often neglected in design under the assumption that older adults can regulate their emotions independently. This study highlights the importance of fostering positive emotions in the elderly through leisure activities. It examines (1) how design practitioners conceptualize emotion regulation in older adults, (2) the challenges they face in creating supportive designs, and (3) enablers identified by elderly individuals. Twelve design practitioners generated 64 interactive design concepts to enhance elderly leisure experiences, followed by interviews with five elderly participants to explore their emotional needs and preferences. The findings underscore designers’ challenges and highlight opportunities for user-centered approaches to promote emotional well-being in aging populations.

Information

Type
Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2025
Figure 0

Figure 1. thirty-six daily activity cards [left] and Ten savoring cards [right]

Figure 1

Figure 2. Research process

Figure 2

Figure 3. Example from 95 design ideation result and re-created translation

Figure 3

Table 1. Elderly participant’s details

Figure 4

Table 2. Elderly participant’s details