Designing for Those who are Overlooked

This paper focuses on the complex and intimate setting of domestic home care. The majority of care for chronically ill people is realized by non-professionals, the relatives, who are often overlooked. Many of these informal caregivers are also elderly and face multiple, seriously demanding challenges in the context of informal care 24/7. In order to support this increasing user group, their cooperative work and coordination adequately, it is essential to gain a better understanding of their care practices and needs. This paper is based on ethnography in ten households in Germany. It combines data from the analysis of participant observations over eight months, interviews and cultural probes. Besides detailed descriptions of two cases, the central features of informal care experience and implications for design are discussed: the self-concept of the caregivers as being care experts, the need for social support, timing issues and coordination with other actors in this field.