C. Stephanidis (Ed.): HCII 2014 Posters, Part II, CCIS 435, pp. 284–287, 2014. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014 Understanding Elderly Needs for Designing a Digitally Extended Environment via Tablets Patrizia Andronico 1 , Salvatore Minutoli 1 , and Ercan E. Kuruoglu 2 1 Istituto di Informatica e Telematica - CNR (IIT-CNR), Pisa, Italy {patrizia.andronico,salvatore.minutoli}@iit.cnr.it 2 Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell’Informazione “A. Faedo” - CNR (ISTI-CNR), Pisa, Italy ercan.kuruoglu@isti.cnr.it Abstract. In this short communication we describe our methodological frame- work for developing an extended digital environment for the elderly. The core of our approach is based on probing elderly needs via storytelling to be inter- preted in a wide sense. The probe consists of activities to be carried out by the experiment group, such as taking pictures, making a collage, writing a diary. Keywords: participatory design, storytelling, elderly, user-centred design. 1 Introduction The increasing of life expectation is a well-known phenomenon as are the related problems of maintaining an active ageing population. In Italy the aging index1 in 2013 is 151,4 elderly out of 100 youth, thus the population over 65 years old is now reaching 13 million [1]. In addition to the natural aging of the body and the possible diseases related to old age, many of them live alone. In recent years many govern- ments have been investing in and many researchers are working to find solutions to improve the general quality of life of the elderly. In recent years, we have seen at the same time an increase in mobile technology – smart phones or tablets - and the development of all types of applications, including social networks, for study, for entertainment, for the maintenance of relationships or connections among family members, and so on. The elderly also suffer the technolo- gical gap that keeps them distant from their own grandchildren, who were born to a digital world. The aim of our research is developing digital means for an extended environment for elderly. For issues related to age and to the possible difficulty of movement or reduced social activities, in fact, the elderly are facing an increasingly reduced physi- cal environment around them. One of our intentions is to recover part of the physical space via a virtual environment that can help them maintain a more active life. A digital environment can provide a compensation for part of the reduced interac- tion of the elderly with the environment. Due to old age and the limitations that it 1 The ratio between people over 65 years old and youth up to 14 years old.