Designing for and with People with Dementia using a Human Rights-Based Approach

Abstract

User-centered design is typically framed around meeting the preferences and needs of populations involved in the design process. However, when designing technology for people with disabilities, in particular dementia, there is also a moral imperative to ensure that human rights of this segment of the population are consciously integrated into the process and respectfully included in the product. We introduce a human rights-based user-centered design process which is informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). We conducted two editions of a three-day-long design workshop during which undergraduate students and dementia advocates came together to design technology for people with dementia. This case study demonstrates our novel approach to user-centered design that centers human rights through different stages of the workshop and actively involves people with dementia in the design process.