ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1541571
This article is part of the Research TopicUser-Centred Approaches for Designing Assistive Technologies to Support Older AdultsView all 5 articles
Exploring the functional quality attributes of smart home for older adults based on qualitative research and Kano model
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China
- 2Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
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Background: This study investigates the functional attributes of smart home for older adults across different age groups, aiming to identify features that fulfill users' needs and give convenience, thereby offering scientific guidance for future smart home designs for older adults.Methods: Employing a multi-stage approach, this study commences with semi-structured interviews with older participants in China, analyzing transcripts using NVivo to guide questionnaire design.Subsequently, a questionnaire survey is administered to older adults in China, with the data processed using the Kano model incorporating the Better-Worse index with sensitivity coefficients.The findings distinctly demonstrate divergent preferences among different age groups.Specifically, for older adults aged 60-69, health, life and entertainment functions emerge as top priorities, identifying two indicators classified as Must-be quality, five as One-dimensional quality, and one as Attractive quality. In contrast, among those older adults aged 70 and above, emphasis lies predominantly on health, life and emotion functions, identifying one indicator categorized as Must-be quality, six as Onedimensional quality and two as Attractive quality.Conclusions: This study highlights the existence of significant variations in the needs of different older adult age groups. Through the classification of functional attributes of smart home for older adults, development strategies can be precisely formulated to better meet the needs of different age groups.
Keywords: Ageing, Smart home, Quality attribute, qualitative research, Kano model
Received: 08 Dec 2024; Accepted: 18 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Li, Liu and Wei. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xing Liu, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, Sichuan Province, China
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