User Involvement in Dementia Product Development

This article is in two parts. The first part describes the design of new assistive technology for people with dementia developed within the ENABLE project, with designs coming from both personal and professional carers as well as design engineers. The second part looks at traditional user-led design methodologies for assistive technology to see what lessons have been learnt from the ENABLE project to adapt these methodologies to make them more appropriate for people with dementia. The article concludes with a series of recommendations for designers to assist the generation of effective new devices for people with dementia.