Developing ambient assisted living technologies exploiting potential of user-centred co-creation and agile methodology: the CAPTAIN project experience

Information and Communication Technology can turn older adults’ homes into smart living environments, decreasing the need for support and improving life quality. However, new technology has high uncertainty in terms of acceptance. Co-creation approaches are proposed to reach high acceptability, usability and satisfaction, but performance evaluations are sparse. This paper aimed at presenting the evaluation of a hybrid approach of Agile co-creation framework, specially designed for large, distributed consortia and cross-national collaborations. The new framework, leveraging the concepts of Design Thinking, Lean start-up, and SCRUM Agile, was tested in the H2020 CAPTAIN project. A network of stakeholders, built across five Living Labs, allowed the participatory design of the CATAIN technology through multiple iterations. A pre-post assessment questionnaire was administered to team components and used to compare partners’ perspective and satisfaction about CAPTAIN‘s and other projects methodologies. A longitudinal assessment throughout the iterations, using actionable metrics, monitored team morale and stakeholders’ engagement and satisfaction. The CAPTAIN development process resulted in a stronger involvement of the partners and a in better perception of requirements elicitation, design and development process than previous projects. Team morale was good and steady along the development iterations. Stakeholders increased from 91 to 132 along the iterations and more than 90% were satisfied. The tested framework went beyond usual participatory designs. It required stronger technical coordination, activity planning and communication among technical and pilot partners, but resulted in high satisfaction and engagement of both team members and stakeholders, showing its validity as a development approach for H2020 projects.