In the first week of October the annual AAL (Active and Assisted Living) Forum took place in the historical city of Coimbra, the former capital of Portugal. The MedGUIDE project was represented by ConnectedCare and Technical University Cluj. The aim was to gain and share knowledge about creating digital solutions that support active ageing.
The three-day event brought companies, universities and end-users together to share the latest trends and innovations. The MedGUIDE team engaged in information exchange with other project teams. As part of the forum, a series of workshops were organized, covering a spectrum from AAL design methodology to the use of robotics in the care environment.
ConnectedCare organized a workshop on user journeys for AAL products. Martijn Vastenburg, project coordinator of the MedGUIDE project, shared MedGUIDE project design experiences in the workshop. User journeys enable a new perspective to product design, and can be used as part of the participatory design methodology. Rather than focusing only on user-product interactions, user journeys focus on ‘touch points’. With user journeys, product developers can easily identify how the product experience can be improved – starting the moment a user starts looking for a solution. A group of 24 workshop participants explored how they could develop their own User Journey for a ‘smart pillbox’.
The MedGUIDE team looks back at an inspiring forum, and returned home with new inspiration for the project. We look forward to the next AAL forum in Bilbao!
Participants of the workshop working on their user journeys