ICare Designer: A rule-driven layout co-designing system for elderly caring

In CSCW and related fields, computer supported collaborative design has been used in various fields. Yet, there has been little research focusing on the collaborative context design for elderly caring. For filling this gap, this paper explores a notion of rule-driven layout co-designing system for elderly caring. What makes it distinct from other layout designing system is that it employs hierarchically modularization to store all standardized components that are needed for the aging caring space, and embeds intelligence algorithm into the typical evidence-based design for improving design efficiency and reducing design costs. In this paper, we designed and implemented a prototype called iCare Designer, and conducted a preliminary study to understand how this notion works in reality. While findings of the preliminary study suggest promises of the notion of rule-driven space layout co-designing system, it reveals some challenges this kind of systems to truly work in practices, mainly reflecting in its flexibility and perception to ambient environment. An in-depth discussion is provided in the end.