Trans RINA, Vol 153, Part C1, Intl J Marine Design, Jul - Dec 2011


disability in the USA [5] and nearly 65% of them are currently unemployed [6, 7]. Moreover, due to the increase in the number of baby-boomers as a percentage of the total population, by 2030 there will be 70 million people over the age of 65, with the fastest growing segment of that population, and the fastest growing segment of that population is in the USA being those over the age of 85 years [8].


Failing to respond to the changing needs of current and future customer/consumers will impact significantly on brand loyalty and ultimately lost sales. Inclusive luxury in the leisure marine industry has the potential to be a significant opportunity for participation in order to enhance the quality of life as people age.


1.2 TOI: CRUISE SHIP MEDICAL FACILITIES


An interesting alternative to assisted living facilities and communities for elders would be the potential of cruise ships that offered medical provision. This concept could help to develop and change the meaning of leisure to the aging population. Living on a cruise ship can potentially provide a better quality of life than an assisted living facility and is cost effective for elderly people who need help to live independently [9].


A geriatrician accompanied her parents on a Caribbean cruise and saw that many passengers were just like her geriatric patients—some used walking frames, canes, or wheelchairs—but they enjoyed a better quality of life than patients in assisted living facilities. Many had taken 20 or 30 cruises over the past two years [9].


We compared the amenities and costs in assisted living facilities with accommodation on cruise ships, using a Markov analysis. Both cruise ships and assisted living facilities offer single room apartments with a private bathroom, a shower with easy access, some help, cable television, security services, and entertainment. Cruise ships also have a higher ratio of employees to passengers than assisted living facilities [9].


This acceptance by the aging population of cruising as an assisted leisure activity, offers a TOI (Transfer of Innovation) opportunity for motor yachts. Having two medically trained crew on a small vessel would enable the relatively high net worth members of


the aging


population to engage in the more personalised marine leisure activity of motor boating.


2. EMPATHIC DESIGN


Effective industrial designers cannot rely solely on their own experiences in the development of new products for users unlike themselves. Their ability to create successful products is enhanced through gaining empathy with the user, which requires them to expand their “empathic horizon”. Empathy is “our intuitive ability to identify


with other people’s thoughts motivations, emotional and feelings and mental models, for designers learning about design research – their values,


priorities, preferences, and inner conflicts” [10]. Empathy is “the altered subjectivity that can come from immersion into a particular context” [11], a view that is helpful


human


communication during their designing process. Empathic


deepens the designer’s


understanding in the designing process. Intangibles such as feelings, emotions, dreams, aspirations, and fears can provide the designer with critical cues, triggers, and inspiration that provide the essence to more balanced and functional products. It requires designers to develop new ways of seeing, thinking, and experiencing as they generate more visionary ideas and concepts. Empathic design research builds on the synergy of individuals developing relationships [12] and is


the essence of


qualitative design research [10]. Industrial Designers combine this qualitative research with more traditional objective research data (e.g., market research, socio- economic and anthropometric) to fuel their creativity, develop inspired products, and ensure more


design outcomes. 3.


DISABILITY


Our worldwide population demographics are shifting. People are living longer and expecting a higher quality of life than ever before. Over a typical life course people may develop a range of disabilities (e.g. arthritis; diabetes; hearing, vision, and dexterity loss). Disability should not be a barrier in the pursuit of a high quality of life. User expectation of products is growing, which suggests a balanced approach to functionality is more important than ever. Rather than designing for the users, we need to be designing more intimately with them. Empathic design research is a strategy that relies on the end-user being an active partner throughout the designing process.


Designers aim to serve as both the advocate and voice of the user (whose background, physical abilities, and education may differ greatly from their own) in the product


development of user process. They ensure more


appropriate design outcomes by engaging and studying people in their personal environments to gain a deeper understanding


behaviours and towards products. Typically, designers are


perceptions people


without severe physical disabilities. They use innovative ways of thinking to solve problems as to how people react to products in their material landscape (i.e., the products that people surround themselves with and that fill their personal and public environments).


The user experience of people with disabilities is often significantly different from people without disabilities. They face challenges in the material landscape that those without disabilities may not even be aware of or take for granted


without question – e.g. people without


relevant


C-16


©2011: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects


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