publications | Diego Muñoz

2026

Technology Interventions and Well-Being Enhancement in Residential Aged Care: A Scoping Review

Michael Chew, Sonja Pedell, Diego Muñoz, and 1 more author

Technologies, 2026

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Technology interventions have great potential to support the complex needs of older adults living in residential aged care, contributing to their general well-being. This scoping review aims to provide an overview of how different technological interventions contribute to the well-being of older adult residents in aged care settings. Specifically, the current objectives for digital interventions, the interaction mechanisms, and the evaluation of their impact on well-being are reviewed following the PRISMA guidelines. We included 26 studies since 2017 covering three databases discussing the impact of technological interventions on social connectedness and cognitive and emotional well-being, and the theoretical models of evaluation applied in these studies. Seven key interaction mechanisms with digital interventions with the objective to enhance social connections, stimulate cognitive functioning, and formulate new models and theories were identified. Our findings show the potential of enhancing the well-being of aged care residents. We discuss our findings under three lenses: User, relational, and contextual experiences, and suggest that these experience categories should inform the focus of future research. This review offers insights into the broader ethical, social, and contextual factors that influence their success, and that can guide future research, inform policy decisions, and improve care practices.
Understanding the Role of Technology to Support Life Transitions in Residential Aged Care Settings

Diego Muñoz, Sonja Pedell, Lan An, and 1 more author

Journal of Aging Studies, Sep 2026

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Everyday practices, including technology use, by older adults can significantly change during important life transitions. However, technologies do not always match their evolving needs. This paper examines how older adults reconfigure everyday technology use when navigating major life transitions in later life. We have engaged with fifteen participants living in residential care settings for three years in weekly group activities and individual visits. Through deep and meaningful collaborations, we got to know these residents and their life circumstances closely. We created detailed narratives of the technology use experiences of five residents applying a Narrative Inquiry approach. The narratives focused on how residents adapted their technology practices and devices over time while dealing with significant changes in their everyday lives. Then, we complemented the Narrative Inquiry with a Reflexive Thematic Analysis of the data across the fifteen residents. Our findings show that older adults developed changing technology needs for two main reasons: firstly, to cope with the immediate consequences of the transitions and secondly, to improve entering the new stage of their lives by discovering or maintaining their interests through technology. We propose exploring suitable choices for technologies with older adults that provide continuity and extend their experiences with technology use during transitions. These technologies should enable positive and enriching experiences and counterbalance unsettling feelings and the struggles of change. Our research contributes an understanding of how technologies might support the life transitions of older adults in considering both their individual experiences and the role of wider social networks.

2025

Opportunities for Technology to Support Facilitation of Group Exercise in Aged Care: An Ethnographic Study

Hao He, Diego Muñoz, Lan An, and 1 more author

In Proceedings of the 37th Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, 2025

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Group exercise enhances health and social connection in residential aged care. However, challenges such as engaging residents and structuring the exercise program can influence the session’s success. Complementing exercise expertise and facilitation skills can help manage group dynamics and provide better person-centred support in this complex setting. To understand the potential of technology for supporting group exercise, we conducted an ethnographic study of a physiotherapist-led group exercise program in a residential aged care centre. Our analysis identifies three core facilitation strategies: (i) increasing group energy through embedded playfulness, (ii) managing heterogeneity through continuous adaptation, and (iii) balancing routine with novel elements. Based on these findings, we propose design requirements that frame the role of technology in supporting the session by encouraging playful activation, providing cognitive aid for facilitators, and creating variety based on familiar routine, so as to enhance social engagement and improve the effectiveness of group exercise delivery.
AI-Driven Co-Design in Health and Care: Exploring Challenges, Opportunities, and Innovations

Jessica Rahman, Hilary Davis, Sonja Pedell, and 3 more authors

In Proceedings of the 37th Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, 2025

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Artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI, is playing an increasingly prominent role in shaping the design and delivery of health and care services. However, its integration into everyday practice remains limited, often due to a lack of attention to human factors and the complex sociotechnical contexts in which care is delivered. This workshop critically explores the human-centred dimensions of AI in health and care, with a special focus on co-design tool and methodologies. It will explore how AI can support and reshape co-design practices, enhancing collaboration, creativity, and shared decision-making among a diverse range of stakeholders, including healthcare providers, caregivers, researchers, industry partners, and people with lived experience. Focusing on human-centred and inclusive co-design approaches, the workshop explores both the opportunities and challenges of using AI-driven tools in the complex and dynamic care environments in health and care. Participants will engage in interactive activities and discussions to reflect on their own settings, evaluate emerging co-design practices, and explore the sociotechnical aspects required for the responsible and ethical use of AI. The workshop aims to bring together participants at all levels of AI familiarity, from experienced practitioners to those curious about its potential, fostering a multidisciplinary dialogue around the future of AI-supported collaboration in health and care settings.
Reshaping Higher Education Designs and Futures: Postdigital Co-design with Generative Artificial Intelligence

Sandris Zeivots, Alison Casey, Tiffany Winchester, and 19 more authors

Postdigital Science and Education, Nov 2025

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This article examines how collaborative design practices in higher education are reshaped through postdigital entanglement with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). We collectively explore how co-design, an inclusive, iterative, and relational approach to educational design and transformation, expands in meaning, practice, and ontology when GenAI is approached as a collaborator. The article brings together 19 authors and three open reviewers to engage with postdigital inquiry, structured in three parts: (1) a review of literature on co-design, GenAI, and postdigital theory; (2) 11 situated contributions from educators, researchers, and designers worldwide, each offering practice-based accounts of co-design with GenAI; and (3) an explorative discussion of implications for higher education designs and futures. Across these sections, we show how GenAI unsettles assumptions of collaboration, knowing, and agency, foregrounding co-design as a site of ongoing material, ethical, and epistemic negotiation. We argue that postdigital co-design with GenAI reframes educational design as a collective practice of imagining, contesting, and shaping futures that extend beyond human knowing.

2023

Weisst Du Wieviel Sternlein Stehen? – Building Older Adults’ Confidence in Technology Use through Co-Designing Digital Storytelling

Lan An, Christel Huwald, Diego Muñoz, and 2 more authors

In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2023

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A Co-design Approach for Developing and Implementing Smart Health Technologies and Services

Sonja Pedell, Leon Sterling, Nicole Aimers, and 1 more author

In Advances in Smart Healthcare Paradigms and Applications: Outstanding Women in Healthcare—Volume 1, 2023

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In this chapter we demonstrate how co-design can generate the knowledge needed to develop smart technologies and services in participatory ways. Even though co-design has many benefits and has been successfully used in an array of domains, it is argued that easy to apply methods are needed to guide the co-design process. One useful method for this purpose is Motivational Modelling which importantly, does not limit any aspect of participation and gives all stakeholders a strong voice in the design outcome. We report on two case studies using Motivational Modelling in the co-design process to create solutions for health and wellbeing with a focus on older adults. We argue that through the shared goal definition with attention to users’ emotions, we better understand the demands on smart solutions to create benefits for older adults and other stakeholders in complex and individual everyday contexts and hence increase acceptance and adoption.

2022

Understanding Confidence of Older Adults for Embracing Mobile Technologies

Lan An, Diego Muñoz, Sonja Pedell, and 1 more author

In Proceedings of the 34th Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, 2022

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Confidence helps sustain people to use their mobile technology devices in daily life. However, there is little research that discusses how to build confidence among older adult users either when starting to use technology or broadening their existing technology use. To understand older adults’ confidence in technology use, we conducted an exploratory study over six months with ten participants in a residential care setting. We investigated the relationship between confidence, experience, and personal interests to use technology in their embracing of technology. Our findings show that confidence can be gained from positive experiences of use and that confidence helps with subsequent technology engagement. Positive experiences encourage further and broader experimentation with their own devices. Activities using technology to support personal interests provide great motivation for participants to expand the use of their mobile technology devices. We provide insights on a facilitation process that is based on open exploration and mutual learning to build confidence of users in residential care settings.
Walking in My Shoes: Creating a Toolkit for Codesigning a Shared Vision for City Development

Monique de Costa, Nadia Anam, Jiayi Shi, and 2 more authors

In DRS2022: Bilbao, 2022

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Exploring Technologies to Better Link Physical Evidence and Digital Information for Disaster Victim Identification

David Lovell, Kellie Vella, Diego Muñoz, and 3 more authors

Forensic Sciences Research, Mar 2022

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Evaluating Engagement in Technology-Supported Social Interaction by People Living with Dementia in Residential Care

Diego Muñoz, Sonja Pedell, and Leon Sterling

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, Oct 2022

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Technologies can support the well-being of people living with dementia in residential care by fostering meaningful interactions through multimodal and playful features. This article presents the evaluation of A Better Visit, an app that aims at engaging residents and visitors in shared activities. We define engagement in terms of dyadic interactions with the interface of the device, and interactions within the social context of the care home. We generated two Motivational Models that describe different perspectives of how people engaged with the system: the first was built with the design team, and the second was built using the first Motivational Model as a sensitising concept for the analysis of data from four care homes that used the app for periods of three months. Our findings show that the facilitation of activities plays a relevant role for engaging in social interaction. We discuss how technologies can contribute to engaging people living with dementia in social interaction: firstly, facilitation can be understood as a concept that is supported by people and technology. Secondly, we discuss the influence of the social context of the setting and the understandings of the individual in how people assess the engagement of the residents in social interaction.
Designing Meaningful, Beneficial and Positive Human Robot Interactions with Older Adults for Increased Wellbeing During Care Activities

Sonja Pedell, Kathy Constantin, Diego Muñoz, and 1 more author

In Handbook of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Vol 2: Practicalities and Prospects, 2022

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This research explores the benefits of introducing humanoid robots into different active ageing and aged care settings. We visited active ageing groups with a focus on dementia, knitting and a men’s shed. We also took the robot to a residential care home to set up engaging activities. Exploring assumptions of older adults and staff about the capabilities, purpose and intelligence of the robot played a large role in understanding how robots should be introduced. We found that implementation and interactions need to be carefully crafted in advance for developing trust and interest, and for creating a shift in feelings of control in older adults as well as staff. Benefits, meaning, and comfortable interactions are created through building on existing skills, familiarity, and past experiences. When done successfully, older adults were seen to engage in playful and empowering ways, enjoying the interactions with both the robot and the wider group with positive effects beyond the time the actual interactions took place. The article summarizes the findings across the different settings. It presents recommendations for introducing older adults to interact with humanoid robots, supported by motivational goal modelling and technology probe techniques. We consider our research in group settings to be relevant for the wider acceptance of the use of robots. We discuss that researchers should set clear goals for the interactions between the robot and older adults and gradually introduce the technology to older adults in a participatory way in group settings before attempting one-on-one scenarios with them.
Social Media Use and Family Connectedness: A Systematic Review of Quantitative Literature

Amina Tariq, Diego Muñoz Sáez, and Shanchita R. Khan

New Media & Society, May 2022

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Despite the ubiquitous use of social media platforms by people of all ages, there is limited synthesis of evidence on their effect on family connectedness. This systematic review assesses the quantitative evidence around relationship between social media use and family connectedness. We searched articles published between January 2010 and April 2020. Nine of the 14 included studies examined the effect of social media on parent-child communication, while the rest explored the effect on broader family relationships. Overall evidence is mixed, highlighting some aspects of social media use that may strengthen family connectedness, while others that may negatively impact meaningful interactions within families. This review illustrates the complex nature of this research domain with limited consensus on how to measure family connectedness in context of social media use. We discuss the limitations of the studies and the greater need for high-quality research in the fast-paced world of social media.
Co-Creating Futures of Care with Older Adults

Cara Wilson, Diego Muñoz, Aloha Ambe, and 4 more authors

In Proceedings of the Participatory Design Conference 2022 - Volume 2, 2022

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Designing for care futures in older adulthood often begins and ends with techno-solutions for use in formal care systems, while older adults and their informal care networks are often excluded contributing their own visions for care and the future. In this workshop, we will explore how we can better design not only for but with care in older adulthood, applying the PDC 2022 ’Senti-Pensar’ (thinking-feeling) lens, to ask ‘how can we enact and represent design practice that is difficult to describe but is heartfelt and passionate?’ We aim to challenge current narratives of care in HCI, embracing the diversity of experiences of older adults, and facilitating discussion around a future of care that values interdependency, relationality, and thinking-feeling in design. By considering multiple perspectives on care in older adulthood, we will speculate on the role of technologies within future ecosystems of care, where care is the concerted and organising principle.

2021

Evaluating an App to Promote a Better Visit Through Shared Activities for People Living with Dementia and Their Families

Diego Muñoz, Stu Favilla, Sonja Pedell, and 3 more authors

In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2021

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This project aims to foster shared positive experiences between people living with moderate to advanced dementia and their visitors as they may struggle to find topics to talk about and engaging things to do together. To promote a better visit, we trialed a previously developed app that includes eight games with twenty-one residents and their partners or carers across four care centers for three months each. Through interviews and data logging, we found that residents preferred games that were closer to their interests and skills, and that gameplay and cooperation fostered meaningful and shared interactions between residents and their visitors. The contribution of this work is twofold: (1) insights and opportunities into dyadic interactions when using an app and into promoting positive social experiences through technology design, and (2) reflections on the challenges of evaluating the benefits of technology for people living with dementia.
Diagramming Working Field Theories for Design in the HCI Classroom

Bernd Ploderer, Jennyfer Lawrence Taylor, Diego Muñoz, and 2 more authors

In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2021

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HCI has historically provided little support for moving from fieldwork insights or theories to design outcomes. Having witnessed many students struggle and then justify their designs with a form of marketing hype, we developed a supporting approach of “field theories”. A field theory is a working theory about salient interactions in a particular domain and sensitizing concepts in order to frame design investigations. It is presented visually in a field theory diagram to support succinct communication and critique. Studying use of design prototypes that have been informed by a field theory helps to reflect upon and refine the theory. In this paper we present examples from our HCI classes and reflections based on interviews with students. We discuss how field theories offer an orientation in the spirit of a ‘bricoleur’ who harnesses elements of theory and practice to produce deeper understandings and more fitting outcomes for the task at hand.

2019

Assembling Mass-Market Technology for the Sake of Wellbeing: A Case Study on the Adoption of Ambient Intelligent Systems by Older Adults Living at Home

Francisco J. Gutierrez, Diego Muñoz, Sergio F. Ochoa, and 1 more author

Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, Oct 2019

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Everyday more and more ubiquitous applications are developed to support aging in place and ambient assisted living. Although these technologies typically adhere to the functional requirements defined by their developers, many of these solutions evidence limitations for being adopted by end-users, i.e., older adults. This paper reports the authors’ experience in the design and deployment of several iterations of the SocialConnector system—a computer-supported family communication mediator—as a case study that helps identify key factors that ease the adoption of ambient intelligent systems encouraging intergenerational family communication at home. The particularity of the followed approach is to assemble widely available mass-market technology—such as commercial Tablet PCs and TV displays—glued together with innovative software, as a way to drive system adoption through economically affordable hardware running over empirically-driven considerations for designing effective software in this study domain. The case study results help researchers and practitioners to conceive technology that has a better chance of being embraced by older adults and their supporting family networks; particularly, when such a technology is going to be deployed in their homes. Therefore, the key design factors identified in this paper can be used to inform the conception and modeling of ambient intelligent systems that help older adults address several aspects of their aging in place process, like health monitoring, personal security, social engagement, support to daily activities, and ultimately, fostering wellbeing.
Position Exchange Workshops: A Method to Design for Each Other in Families

Diego Muñoz, Bernd Ploderer, and Margot Brereton

In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2019

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2018

Towards Design for Renegotiating the Parent-Adult Child Relationship after Children Leave Home

Diego Muñoz, Bernd Ploderer, and Margot Brereton

In Proceedings of the 30th Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction, 2018

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2015

Introducing Ambient Assisted Living Technology at the Home of the Elderly: Challenges and Lessons Learned

Diego Muñoz, Francisco J. Gutierrez, and Sergio F. Ochoa

In Ambient Assisted Living. ICT-based Solutions in Real Life Situations: 7th International Work-Conference, IWAAL 2015, Puerto Varas, Chile, December 1-4, 2015, Proceedings, 2015

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A Social Cloud-Based Tool to Deal with Time and Media Mismatch of Intergenerational Family Communication

Diego Muñoz, Raymundo Cornejo, Francisco J. Gutierrez, and 3 more authors

Future Generation Computer Systems, 2015

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Social media services are increasingly used to support social interaction among young people and adults. Older adults however, are often reluctant to use social media services, and prefer to socialize through face-to-face meetings or telephone conversations. Moreover, the time periods that family members have for socializing can be different, as they may have a different schedule for conducting activities and commitments during the day. These differences in media preferences and scheduling times for socializing generate a communication asymmetry that socially isolates older adults and negatively impacts their physical and mental health. Based on the analysis of a dataset from two 21-weeks deployment studies and nine semi-structured interviews, we conducted an in-depth formative study trying to understand the communication asymmetry among older adults and their relatives. The results were used to improve the design and implementation of SocialConnector, a cloud-based application that enables older adults to conduct synchronous and asynchronous social interactions with their relatives. The usability of the new system was evaluated to determine if its services contribute to address the stated communication asymmetry. The obtained results provide evidence that the system can successfully help to alleviate the communication breakdowns led by asymmetries in media and time preferences among family members.
SocialConnector: A Ubiquitous System to Ease the Social Interaction among Family Community Members

Diego Muñoz, Francisco J. Gutierrez, Sergio F. Ochoa, and 1 more author

Comput. Syst. Sci. Eng, 2015

2013

Enhancing Social Interaction between Older Adults and Their Families

Diego Muñoz, Francisco Gutierrez, Sergio F. Ochoa, and 1 more author

In Ambient Assisted Living and Active Aging: 5th International Work-Conference, IWAAL 2013, Carrillo, Costa Rica, December 2-6, 2013, Proceedings, 2013

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Aligning Intergenerational Communication Patterns and Rhythms in the Age of Social Media

Diego Muñoz, Raymundo Cornejo, Sergio F. Ochoa, and 3 more authors

2013

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Social media is increasingly being used to support interaction among family members. However, differences in media preferences and interaction patterns challenge intergenerational communication. It impacts negatively on the physical and mental health of older adults. Trying to bridge such a communication asymmetry, this paper reports the primary results of an analysis conducted on an existent dataset from two 21-weeks deployment studies, along with a 3-week design study, to understand intergenerational communication mismatches among older adults and relatives. Results indicate opportunities that informed the design and implementation of the Social Connector system, a software application that allows older adults to establish synchronous and asynchronous social interactions with their relatives. The paper also describes this system and discusses the main design decisions made to try reducing the stated communication asymmetry.