Co-creating Wellbeing: The WarmNeighbourhoods Experience

The WarmNeighbourhoods AroundMe project utilised a co-creation approach to develop a consumer focused wellbeing service utilising sensor technology that would alert friends and family to let them know that a loved one (older/vulnerable person) was 'OK'. The aim of the service was to provide reassurance to friends and relative whilst allowing the older/vulnerable person to live in their own home independently. Technology is purported to be one tool which may be deployed to offset the challenges inherent in an ageing society, however much technology rarely develops beyond the prototyping stage and when it is developed fully, it is often abandoned by the end user as it does not fully meet their needs. This paper will use WarmNeighbourhoods AroundMe project as an example of how design research methods can address these issues and demonstrate how the use of co-creation and rapid prototyping can appropriately and inclusively involve users and key stakeholders in the product design process, whilst stimulating the development of creative and innovative ideas which are grounded in user need to support wellbeing.