Design Thinking as a tool to help the elderly. An experience narrated by Òscar O. Santos-Sopena

Building a bridge between technology and our elders was the main challenge that was set to be achieved at the EELISA seminar “Design Thinking: Technology for elderly people” organized by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain), İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi (Turkey) and Universitatea Politehnica din București (Romania), last 16th and 17th March, 2023.

Celebrated in Bucharest, this event aimed at EELISA Universities Master’s and Bachelor’s students had the purpose of sharing and discussing the main concepts of “Design” as a tool for social and economic development as well as creating a space to come up with new ideas to achieve a greater integration of the elderly in society while highlighting their value in society.

Òscar O. Santos-Sopena, organizer of the seminar, leads us through the workshops, presentations and a final hackathon that took place throughout these 2 days in this event guided by top researchers and teachers from three EELISA Communities: Egalitarian Societies: Opportunities for Everyone; Industrial Design for Human; and Tech Diplomacy & International Cooperation through the use Design Thinking and Social Innovation.

Design thinking is a problem-solving approach that involves empathizing with users, defining the problem, ideating solutions, prototyping, and testing. It is a methodology that can be applied to various fields and industries, including the topic that we developed last December within 3 EELISA communities at Universitatea Politehnica din București (UPB): “Technology for elderly people”.

As the population of elderly people is growing, they face various challenges that need to be addressed. The EELISA activity on Design Thinking and Technology for Elderly People aimed to provide students the main principles and concepts of Design Thinking by getting new Soft Skill to come up with innovative ideas that could help our elders adapt to the changes in society and find solutions to this current issue. The activity consisted on 3 days of workshops, presentations, and a hackathon.

On the first day, students were involved in workshops on Social Innovation and Service-learning and community engagement through Design Thinking, which aimed to provide students a foundational understanding of the subject.

On the second day, students were presented with three different topics related to technology for elderly people: Home for the elderly, Digital divide, and Elderly pedestrians. These topics highlighted the challenges that people of advanced age face in their daily lives. This activity was then followed by a hackathon where they worked in teams with participants from different universities and countries to solve the challenges presented. The hackathon was guided by mentors from the three communities: Tech Diplomacy & International Cooperation, Industrial Design for Human, and Egalitarian Societies: Opportunities for Everyone.

The Design Thinking approach allowed the students to empathize with elderly people, understand their needs and challenges, and propose innovative solutions that meet their requirements. The hackathon was made to provide an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge and collaborate with other students to come up with solutions.

To sum up, the EELISA activity on Design Thinking and Technology for Elderly People highlighted the value of our elders in the communities and emphasized the need to address the challenges they face. The activity provided a platform for students to propose innovative solutions that could make a positive impact on the lives of elderly people. Through this seminar, students could develop their problem-solving skills, gain practical experience in Design Thinking, and contribute to achieving SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure. Overall, it was a great experience for all of us!

Òscar O. Santos-Sopena, Ph.D

“Design Thinking: Technology for elderly people” workshop organizer

Associate Director of Student Affairs, Innovation & Entrepreneurship at ETSIDI, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

More about Òscar

Dr. Santos-Sopena holds a Ph.D. in Spanish Language, Literature, and Culture – Comparative and Cultural Studies from University of Maryland – College Park, and a Certificate in Arts Administration from New York University (NYU).

Òscar organizes internacional and educational programs, coordinates cultural events, and designs communication, social media and digital marketing strategies to promote several international students services and arts management initiatives.