The ‘Notification System’ is a new concept for assisted living based on the principle of enabling and empowering older adults to self-care, through enhancing their awareness in their home. This concept was proposed by Nestus Ltd, and accepted by the Digital Health & Care Institute as Experience Labs, which took place in October to November 2014.

Three Experience Labs provided the opportunity to explore the full potential of the Notification System and user-test the initial hypotheses behind the concept by developing and validating a refined solution with users. The design-led approach aimed to deliver a set of requirements that were firmly user driven.

In Experience Lab 1, interviews were conducted with six older adults in their home environment, to understand their daily routines, quality of living, technology use, and aesthetics of the home.

Experience Lab 2 involved a group trip to a department store to allow participants to interact with technology and home products facilitated by guided shopping tours. A focus group enabled discussion of buying decisions and possible scenarios for the Notification System to test in Experience Lab 3.

The final Experience Lab aimed to test the Notification System concept in a realistic environment. The Lab Team built a prototype of the Notification System, based on the insights from Labs 1 and 2. The system was tested through role-play, a workshop and focus group from which user driven requirements were distilled.

The outputs from the Labs included audio, photos, videos and field notes which were analysed for emerging themes. The findings of the Labs provide insights on user living environments, networks of support and experience of using technology. The resulting requirements highlight the importance of personalisation, value for money, reliability, and easy to use interfaces.