Older residents of the Bremen suburb Osterholz with the districts of Tenever, Blockdiek, Ellener Feld and Ellenerbrok Schevermoor will be pleased: For there is now an interactive digital map of the area where they live which was designed especially for them. It covers seventy points of interest, ranging from meeting points and counseling centers for seniors, to sports and cultural offers with information and photos of seventeen beautiful squares and paths. Using the digital map or the accompanying list of small photos, you can search for the things you want and access details. The information on the squares and paths also includes the location of benches and WCs.
Developed together with senior citizens
“That's exactly what older people have been missing in local maps so far,” says Dr. Juliane Jarke from the Institute for Information Management Bremen (ifib) at the University of Bremen. Together with Professor Herbert Kubicek and Ulrike Gerhardt, from May 2017 to January 2018 she designed and implemented the interactive neighborhood guide within the framework of the EU project “Mobile in Old Age”. The most important thing: “The neighborhood guide for older people was not only developed for them, but also with them. Because it should meet their information needs and really be useful for the target group,” says Juliane Jarke. On February 9, 2017, the digital neighborhood guide map went online and was integrated into the website of Bremen. The offer can now be accessed online at www.bremen.de/osterholz/senioren
A core group of twelve elderly citizens between the ages of 55 and 80 – five men and seven women – met every 14 days to work on the project. The local councilor, three so-called neighborhood managers and representatives of two parishes, a mothers' center and various neighborhood initiatives also participated in the project. Moreover, at various meeting points for senior citizens, around eighty people contributed ideas on the places they thought should be included and which information should be made available.
Collecting ideas, creating a data model, putting the data together, technical implementation on the server of the project partner FTB (Research Institute Technology and Disability of the Protestant Volmarstein Foundation in Wetter), usability tests – all this took some time. But the effort was worth it, and the result is impressive: “This is a very valuable contribution to getting older people out and about,” said Bremen's Social Senator Anja Stahmann at the launching event.
Easily transferable to other locations
“The EU Commission funded this neighborhood guide for Osterholz to illustrate how future users could be involved in its development,” says Professor Herbert Kubicek from ifib. “The new product should serve as an example in other parts of the city or towns and communities. It can be transferred without too much effort. Older people elsewhere should also be provided with information to help them stay active longer.” Kubicek now plans to compile guidelines to show others how to create digital interactive neighborhood maps of this kind.
And what about the older people who are not yet online? “That, too, is a topic of our research and we are working on the problem,” says Juliane Jarke. “But of course we want to help those seniors now. We have therefore printed a brochure – 1,000 copies – containing information on the 17 beautiful squares and paths.”
An informative film about the development process of the digital neighborhood guide can be found here (in German): https://vimeo.com/225376546
If you have any questions on this topic, feel free to contact:
Professor Herbert Kubicek
University of Bremen
Institute for Information Management Bremen (ifib)
Phone: 0421 / 218-56575
Email: kubicekprotect me ?!informatik.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
About ifib: The Institute for Information Management Bremen (ifib) is a financially independent affiliated institute of the University of Bremen. Its work focuses on the handling of information and IT management in public administration, in schools and universities as well as in associations. Members of the institute are active in research and consultancy. Their main focus is not on the technology, but rather on the requirements of the respective field of application. www.ifib.de
