TY - JOUR
T1 - Troubleshooting as a method in COVID-19 times
T2 - smart home ethnographies and remote aged care innovation
AU - Duque Hurtado, Melisa
AU - Pink, Sarah
AU - Mortimer, Michael
AU - Strengers, Yolande
AU - Martin, Rex
AU - Nicholls, Larissa
AU - Horan, Ben
AU - Eugene, Alicia
AU - Thomson, Sue
N1 - Funding Information:
of Country We wish to acknowledge the people of the Kulin Nations, on whose land the Monash and Deakin university teams work; and the people of the Jukumbal, Kamilaroi/Gomeroi Nations, on whose land the McLean Care team work and on whose land this project was undertaken. We pay our respects to their Elders, past, present, and emerging.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - This article outlines and demonstrates the practice of troubleshooting as a method. We argue that as an interdisciplinary, collaborative, digital-hybridized and adaptable approach, troubleshooting provides an ethical opportunity to explore the experiences and outcomes of (older) people living with connected home technologies in ways that deliver novel and meaningful research insights. Our discussion draws on the experience of a project that worked with ageing people (70+) to tailor and explore their experiences with smart home devices to support their independence and wellbeing. A personalized suite of digital voice assistants (DVAs), robotic vacuum cleaners, smart lights, kettles and switches were installed into the domestic spaces and routines of 23 households and 33 participants living in rural Australia. The project team developed a methodological framework, which took an unplanned and innovative turn in response to the physical distancing challenges brought by COVID-19 lockdowns, with the social connectivity offered by the devices trialled, and the creative digital living skills between the project team and its participants. We conclude by identifying future areas of research at the intersection of smart technologies, aged care services and the home as a site of research and of ongoing methodological design.
AB - This article outlines and demonstrates the practice of troubleshooting as a method. We argue that as an interdisciplinary, collaborative, digital-hybridized and adaptable approach, troubleshooting provides an ethical opportunity to explore the experiences and outcomes of (older) people living with connected home technologies in ways that deliver novel and meaningful research insights. Our discussion draws on the experience of a project that worked with ageing people (70+) to tailor and explore their experiences with smart home devices to support their independence and wellbeing. A personalized suite of digital voice assistants (DVAs), robotic vacuum cleaners, smart lights, kettles and switches were installed into the domestic spaces and routines of 23 households and 33 participants living in rural Australia. The project team developed a methodological framework, which took an unplanned and innovative turn in response to the physical distancing challenges brought by COVID-19 lockdowns, with the social connectivity offered by the devices trialled, and the creative digital living skills between the project team and its participants. We conclude by identifying future areas of research at the intersection of smart technologies, aged care services and the home as a site of research and of ongoing methodological design.
KW - aged care
KW - digital living skills
KW - ethnographic methodologies
KW - Smart home
KW - troubleshooting
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85132333797
U2 - 10.1080/14626268.2022.2088560
DO - 10.1080/14626268.2022.2088560
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85132333797
SN - 1462-6268
VL - 33
SP - 188
EP - 203
JO - Digital Creativity
JF - Digital Creativity
IS - 3
ER -