From Our Lab to Their Homes: Learnings from Longitudinal Field Research with Older Adults

Conducting research with older adults in their home environments presents unique opportunities and challenges that differ significantly from traditional lab-based studies. In this paper, we share our experiences from year-long research activities aiming to design and evaluate conversational voice assistants for older adults through longitudinal deployment, interviews, co-design workshops, and evaluation studies. We discuss the benefits of bringing the lab to their home, including producing realistic and contextual interactions, creating stronger researcher-participant bonds, and enabling participant growth with the research over time. We also detail the difficulties encountered in various aspects of the research process, including recruitment, scheduling, logistics, following study protocols, and study closure. These learnings highlight the complex, yet rewarding, nature of longitudinal home-based research with older adults, offering lessons for future studies aiming to achieve real-world applicability.