Introduction

Knowledge transfer is the starting point for this chapter, which has been crafted by members of six collaborative research teams who have been involved in unique projects concerning aspects of everyday living for older people, addressing issues of technology and design from a human perspective. A real dichotomy underpins this work, because while the focus has been on working with and learning from people in later life, all address issues that may affect people of all ages. So there is a real sense that while we may continue to highlight the underpinning ageism of designers, retailers and the youth-obsessed market, what we are really demonstrating is the importance of inclusive or universal design (Coleman, 1994) throughout the life course, or what has been called ‘transgenerational design’ (Pirkl, 1994). In recognising this we can see that this body of work from the New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) Programme builds on the seminal research carried out for the i-design consortium funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (2002–07) that brought together researchers in engineering and design (see Clarkson et al, 2003; Royal College of Art, 2012). It also recognises the dynamism of design outlined here by Fuad-Luke (2009, p xix):

The NDA researchers also include a wide range of disciplines, bringing together social and medical scientists and the humanities alongside engineering and design colleagues.