Autumn 2026
From Power to Interests: Negotiation of Smart Home Care Arrangements to Support Older Adults Aging in Place
Smart home devices are increasingly marketed as tools for helping older adults age in place, but they often leave older adults with little say over how their own homes are monitored. This DRG builds on my past work, which examines how technology mediates care and support for older adults aging in place, and how smart home devices can change who holds power in informal care relationships. Studies 1 and 2 are complete. Study 1 found that older adults choose technologies based on their relationships, and that they resist being positioned only as recipients of care. Study 2 found that always-on smart home devices, such as cameras and smart speakers, often put control in the hands of whoever introduces and configures them, leaving older adults with few ways to question or change those arrangements.
This DRG will support Study 3, which designs and evaluates a structured negotiation protocol delivered through an LLM-based mediator tool. The tool aims to guide pairs of older adults and their family members or other support network members through scenarios about monitoring, data access, and device control. The goal is to help them move from positions like “I installed it because I care about you, so I need to see everything. Knowing you're safe matters more than your privacy” toward a shared understanding of what each person needs. The central question is whether making these imbalances visible can help families build care arrangements that are more trusting, equitable, and open to revision as circumstances change.
For the first three to four weeks, the DRG will be a reading and discussion group. We will read across HCI, gerontology, privacy, and conflict resolution to understand the background and context. These discussions will also inform final refinements to the tool and the interview protocol. For the rest of the quarter, students will help pilot the negotiation tool, support participant recruitment, and, after completing human subjects training, take part in initial dyadic interviews. This DRG is especially well suited for students interested in aging and accessibility, privacy, human-AI interaction, qualitative methods, or design for families and care relationships. It is open to students from any department. No technical or AI background is required. Students should bring curiosity about aging, care, and technology, and a willingness to read across disciplines.
This DRG will be led by Shengzhi Wang, HCDE PhD Candidate, under the supervision of Dr. Beth Kolko and Dr. Sean Munson.
Enrollment information
Credits: 2
Meeting Time: DRG will meet for approximately 2 hours each week (in person or hybrid) and will require 4-6 hours of outside work per week. Meeting schedules will be decided based on DRG member availability.
Application: Complete this Google Form
Application deadline: September 26, 2026
Anticipated notification date: September 28, 2026
Questions: Shengzhi Wang, shengzw@uw.edu
Dr. Munson's Research Group archive