The SPoC Co-Design Days were held at NEOMA Business School, Reims campus, on 17-18 May.


Alain Goudey, Gael Bonnin and their team from the NEOMA BS Research Institute Smart Products and Consumption (SPoC) organised the event in two parts: half-day smart product testing sessions and a seminar with professional to present and discuss the results.

The team welcomed 50 senior citizens (some of whom were NEOMA BS alumni) who took part in workshops testing new technology products (domestic robots, virtual reality headsets, smartphones, and mobile applications) in partnership with Schneider Electric, Doro and Dynseo. The aim was to assess how senior citizens interact with new technology and to understand the process of acceptance.

The afternoon of the second day was devoted to a seminar that brought together professionals from more than 50 private and public institutions to debate the topic of which strategies are best suited to developing technologies for senior citizens. On the basis of the insights of previous research and the observations made during the co-design days, the seminar stressed the need to better understand the requirements of the senior citizens market, their actual needs (implicit or explicit) and to find new ways to work with them.

In partnership with Le Mois de l’Europe, Gérontopôle Champagne-Ardenne, the Alsace Champagne Ardenne Lorraine region and Reims City Council, the success of the SPoC Co-Design Days shows the relevance of the research conducted by the NEOMA Business School SPoC institute, and how it is extremely applicable within society.

About SPoC (Smart Products and Consumption)

SPoC is a NEOMA Business School research institute. Its purpose is to understand the development and acceptance of intelligent objects and their impact on society and the economy, and to support firms through the transformations that result.

Founded by Gaël BONNIN and Alain GOUDEY, Marketing professors at NEOMA BS, the work conducted by SPoC actively contributes to research in marketing and consumer behaviour. Currently its researchers are investigating the development of robotics to improve the wellbeing of senior citizens (3 projects financed by the Alsace Champagne Ardenne Lorraineregion), the spread of smart objects in businesses, and the design of smart objects. Find out more at: http://institut.neoma-bs.fr/spoc/