ICT Services for Disabled People

ICT Services for Disabled PeopleThe number of intellectually disabled people (ID) is significantly growing in Europe and worldwide. Increasing costs for healthcare and the individuals desire to remain independent in their own homes requires new innovative solutions and services. This thesis analyses how a service design process and methods can be used to design ICT based services that empower intellectually disabled people to have hobbies, communicate, express themselves, and allow

The number of intellectually disabled people (ID) is significantly growing in Europe and worldwide. Increasing costs for healthcare and the individualÕs desire to remain independent in their own homes requires new innovative solutions and services. This thesis analyses how a service design process and methods can be used to design ICT based services that empower intellectually disabled people to have hobbies, communicate, express themselves, and allow for a more independent and safer life. In particular, it develops new information on the use of service design methods for identifying ID peopleÕs needs and co-designing ICT based services. The thesis consists out of four different conference papers that have been published and presented on internationally acknowledged conferences and are part of the European ITEA2 projects ÔDo-it-Yourself Smart ExperiencesÕ and ÔGuaranteeÕ.