Jacob Sheahan

The University of Edinburgh | UoE · Design Informatics

There is growing unease and a sense within the design community of the value placed on efficient, simplified, and seamless interactions, with a growing awareness and documentation of their unintended consequences across society. By prioritizing ‘frictionless’ finance, healthcare, education products, and services, there has been a consorted effort t...

The ability of older adults to engage with information and communication technologies (ICT) is crucial in today’s more digital and connected world. Anxiety about and failure to adopt and engage with ICT is increasingly likely to be a barrier in daily living for older adults, potentially reducing their freedom as consumers, quality of life, independ...

During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns (2020-2021), almost all facets of life were rendered digital – health, work, schooling, and logistics. In this phenomenon, not only did digital access become synonymous with social inclusion but inequalities were also amplified – particularly in the case of older adults (65 years and over). Contemporary older...

Objective: To identify gaps among Australian Long COVID support services and guidelines alongside recommendations for future health programs. Methods: Electronic databases and seven government health websites were searched for Long COVID-specific programs or clinics available in Australia as well as international and Australian management guideline...

Purpose This study aims to address the existing gap in co-design frameworks by introducing the EMPOWER framework, a strength-based co-design methodological approach specifically designed to tackle the key empowerment challenges associated with co-designing alongside individuals experiencing vulnerability. The purpose of this study is to provide a s...

As digital inclusion becomes a growing indicator of wellbeing in later life, the ability to understand older adults’ preferences for information and communication technologies (ICTs) and develop strategies to support their digital literacy is critical. The barriers older adults face include their perceived ICT risks and capacity to learn. Complexit...

The future of work is a context that is rapidly being shaped by powerful forces; the growing adoption of artificial intelligence in the workplace, the increasing casualisation of the workforce, and the decentralised nature of where and how ‘work’ is being performed. This report, The Future of Work, centres on research and case studies that specul...

In seeking to support healthy aging, designers have struggled to reduce their assumptions and biases toward older adults, been seen to interpret the worlds of later life through unfiltered imagery, as well as engage with stigmas, ultimately diminishing the technologies they construct. This article seeks to critically analyse this state-of-the-art f...

This dissertation explores the design of social engagement technologies for later life, demonstrating how drifting with uncertainty could support Interaction Designers in co-creating with ageing communities. Situated at the intersection of ageing and technology, this research speaks to two collaborative interdisciplinary projects that interrogate h...

Keywords: Design Pedagogy, Design Education, Design Learning, Future Perspectives, Project Based Learning, Self-Efficacy, Capacity Development, Industrial Design Education ABSTRACT It is proposed that a progressive Industrial Design education should focus on supporting students in learning to self-manage ambiguity and bolster their agile independ...

Australia’s population is ageing, but with enhanced health prospects and insufficient retirement funds, and industries impacted by a dwindling itinerate manual labour supply, workers will want, and may need, to remain in the workforce for longer. However, as people age, they lose muscular strength, experience a decline in physical and cognitive p...

This digital booklet aims to support older Australians with strategies to increase your digital confidence to connect, as well as assist organisations working with seniors and policy-makers to help reduce the digital divide. We want to help older adults to increase their digital confidence by addressing perceived risks experienced when engaging wit...

This report examines risk perceptions—that is, beliefs about potential harm or the possibility of a loss. It is a subjective judgment that people make about the characteristics and severity of a risk. The report describes the outcomes of stage one of the project, Explore and Quantify. This includes an analysis of 22 exploratory interviews resultin...

Over the past two decades, location-based games have moved from media art fringes to the mass cultural mainstream. Through their locative affordances, these game types enable practices of wayfaring and placemaking, with the capacity to deliver powerful tacit knowledge. These affordances suggest the potential for the development of location-based ga...

An imaging capsule is a pill-shaped device used to record images of the user's gastrointestinal tract. Existing research mainly focuses on the imaging capsule's functional perspective, while its experiential perspective is usually overlooked. To explore this, we introduce a playful system called InsideOut where the player wears an iPad to display t...