The Role of Empathy in Product and Service Design for Ageing Populations


Project dates (estimated):

September 2022 - August 2026


Name of the PhD student:

Elisa Cardamone


Supervisors:

Arno Verhoeven – Edinburgh College of Art

Ian Underwood – School of Engineering

John Vines – Design Informatics.


Project aims:

This project explores how we can empathise with the lived experience of ageing populations, designing digital devices and services that respond to their hopes and fears. Central to the study is examining the role of empathy in product and service design. The aim is to develop an expanded empathy framework for intergenerational inclusive design and codesign. 


Disciplines and subfields engaged:

  • Design

  • Engineering

  • Gerontechnology

  • Science and Technology Studies

  • Phenomenology

  • Ethics


Research Themes:

  • Co-Production and Participatory Design 

  • Embodied Experience and Affect  

  • Ageing, Longevity, and the Life Course  

  • Ethics of Care and Empathy 

  • Emerging Technology and Human Flourishing 


Related outputs:

Journal Papers:

  • Fletcher, J. Cardamone, E. Hatzifilalitis, S. Samanta, T. Azroomchilar, E. (2024). ‘Curating the ‘Care-Full’ Home: An Experiment in Satirical Interdisciplinarity in Social Research’ in Leontowitsch, M., Wanka, A., Himmelsbach, I., Wolf, F., & Oswald, F. (Eds.). (2024). Research Innovation Lab on Ageing in a Digital Age, [Zine], Goethe University Frankfurt, 24-28 July 2023, funded by the VolkswagenStiftung. 🔗

  • Vaca-Benavides, D. Uthayakumar, S. Ostrishko, K. Halpenny, C. McSwiggan, E. Wanok, G. Cardamone, E. (2024). ‘Experiences of Digital Transitions in Health and Social Care Services in Later Life: Findings and Reflections from a Collaborative, Interdisciplinary Feasibility Study’ in Connecting Older Adults to the Digital World, Social Sciences. 🔗

  • Cardamone E., Lefevre, Y. (2025). ‘Exploring Interdisciplinary Frictions in Design for Longevity’ in Design and Longevity, New Perspectives, and Challenges, Revista Base Diseño e Innovación. [In Press]

Awards:

  • Bronze Medal for the project ‘VitaPulse: Reducing Stigma Around Frailty Through Smart Jewellery.’ at the Robotics + Care Mash Up Hackathon. Emergence Network, National Robotarium, Edinburgh, October 2023.

Conference Proceedings:

  • [Under Review] Sheahan, J., Surana, A., Liu, Y. Lee, Y. Salas, G. P., Cardamone, E., Vines, J. (2025). Envisioning Care Futures with Older Adults & Generative Artificial Intelligence. In Proceedings of the ACM 2025 Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS25). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article

  • Sheahan, J., Cardamone, E., Vines, J. (2024). Exploring Generative Postcard Futures with Older Adults. In Adjunct Proceedings of the 2024 Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (NordiCHI '24 Adjunct). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 32, 1–6. 🔗

  • Guernon, A.S. Lazzaroni, C. Cardamone, E. Couture, D. Maki, N. Mendenhall, E. Wahlberg, A. Robbins-Panko, J. Graham, M. (2023). ‘Transitive Afflictions,’ Roundtable Discussion at: AAA/CASCA Transitions, 15-19 November, Toronto, Canada.

  • Cardamone, E. (2023) ‘Co-Creating Narratives of Usefulness,’ in De Sainz Molestina, D., Galluzzo, L., Rizzo, F., Spallazzo, D. (eds.), IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, 9-13 October, Milan, Italy. 🔗

Conference Posters:

  • Cardamone, E. Vaca-Benavides, D. Uthayakumar, S. Ostrishko, K. Halpenny, C. McSwiggan, E. Wanok, G. (2025). ‘Experiences of Digital Transitions in Health and Social Care Services in Later Life: Findings and Reflections from a Collaborative, Interdisciplinary Feasibility Study’ Digital Research Conference, University of Edinburgh.

  • Cardamone, E. (2022). ‘Co-Creating Narratives of Usefulness: Advancing Self-Care Through Empathy Oriented Digital Device Interventions,’ Poster presented at: Advanced Care Research Centre Symposium, 25 April, Edinburgh.

Workshops:

  • “Future Leadership in Ageing and Care”, British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, New Castle, July 1st, 2024. Read the blogpost: 🔗

Presentations:

  • Cardamone, E. “Frozen, cupboard stored, or meal kitted? Platformising nutritional self-care in later life”, Design Informatics Research Bytes, University of Edinburgh, December 9th, 2024.

Tutoring:

  • Usher Institute, “Data Ethics in Health and Social Care" course within the MSc in Data Science for Health and Social Care.

  • Usher Institute, “Leadership and Management in Public Health” course within the Master of Public Health program.

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Socio-ethical critique of technology adoption within social enterprises