Learning from Nissan’s ‘Aging Suit’

I recently came across an article that talks about one approach Nissan has created to help their designers really understand and empathize with a class of their users. As shown in the photo above, they’ve designed a suit that constricts and limits mobility, as well as strains wearers, in order to mimic what movement is like for the elderly who drive.

While similar efforts likely exist, it’s nevertheless a great example of how designers can develop tools to better realize how their decisions affect the experiences they create. By coming up with methods/techniques such as this ‘aging suit’, designers can be freed from having to imagine problems (real or perceived) and instead experience them first hand in an actual, realistic context.

As technology becomes more and more integrated into our daily lives, and as digitally-based user interfaces become the means by which we interact with such technology, how might those of us who create and deliver digital experiences learn from Nissan’s example?

What new methods and techniques can we create to not only understand the context and impact of design decisions, but also allow us to experience nuances not otherwise possible?

In today’s world, as the lines become increasingly blurred between where hardware and software experiences begin and end, it will not only be helpful to create such new ways of looking at and understanding design decisions, but soon necessary.

2 comments April 18th, 2008