Breaking Barriers: Co-Designing Physical Activity Promoting Technologies with Older Adults Living Alone
Muhe Yang, Karyn Moffatt · 2025 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing · doi:10.1145/3763796
Summary
This study investigates why physical activity (PA) promoting technologies fail to meet the needs of older adults living alone, and how technology might better support their exercise engagement. The researchers conducted a multi-stage design process with 17 inactive older adults in Montreal (mean age 78, 14 women, 3 men) who wanted to increase their activity levels but were not meeting recommended PA guidelines. The methodology combined week-long diaries documenting PA routines, semi-structured interviews exploring exercise experiences and barriers, and co-design workshops with eight participants to envision future technology solutions. The study specifically targeted older adults living alone—representing 26% of older Canadians—recognizing that their PA support needs differ from those with built-in household companionship. Participants completed accessible surveys measuring technology proficiency (averaging 3.2/5 for computers, 2.69/5 for mobile devices) and engaged in structured workshop activities including persona validation, scenario generation, concept card critiques, and low-fidelity prototyping. The research addresses a critical gap in HCI literature, which has been dominated by deficit-focused narratives treating PA as a solution to the "problem of aging" rather than engaging older adults as active consumers with complex motivations and values.
Key findings
Participants identified interrelated barriers spanning internal (health problems, lack of motivation, fear of falling), social (isolation, living alone undermining motivation), and environmental levels (weather, inadequate facilities, financial constraints). When evaluating existing technologies like iPhone Health and Fitbit, participants demonstrated sophisticated cost-benefit analysis—acknowledging potential benefits while expressing concerns about privacy, accuracy, complexity, and misalignment with their values. Many viewed phones primarily as communication tools, not exercise aids, and questioned whether step counts captured meaningful activities like gardening or housework. Social support emerged as the critical catalyst for PA engagement, serving three distinct functions: providing emotional support to stimulate internal motivation, facilitating information exchange about PA resources, and offering companionship during technology adoption transitions. Participants envisioned solutions including email-based exercise group coordination, neighborhood "video exercise clubs" offering weekly reminders for activities like chair yoga, and personalized reward systems with user-defined success metrics. The workshops revealed that older adults need a holistic support network connecting healthcare services (for professional guidance), social services (for outreach to isolated individuals), and information services (for accessible PA resources)—not merely improved fitness trackers.
Relevance
This research challenges the dominant approach of designing PA technologies that prescribe and monitor activity levels for older adults as passive recipients. Instead, it demonstrates the value of treating older adults as sophisticated consumers who carefully evaluate whether technologies align with their established values, routines, and privacy expectations. For accessibility practitioners, the findings highlight that technology alone cannot address barriers rooted in social isolation—enhancing social connection must precede or accompany technology adoption. The co-design methodology offers a model for meaningful engagement with older adults, using accessible materials, familiar personas, and multiple participation modes. Key design implications include: building credibility through healthcare professional endorsement, offering both digital and non-digital PA support options, connecting users to local in-person assistance, and designing for peer-to-peer information sharing rather than top-down prescription. The study is limited by its highly educated, predominantly female sample in one Canadian city, and future work should explore diverse demographics and those with specific mobility impairments.
Tags: aging · co-design · physical activity · social support · older adults · health technology · participatory design · social isolation · wearable technology