Honglei Lu

China is experiencing rapid population aging and is actively promoting smart home–based eldercare. Smart homes offer a promising means of supporting older adults in aging in place. However, low adoption and limited sustained use constrain their potential benefits, thereby exacerbating social, economic, and healthcare burdens. This study examined factors influencing older adults’ continuance intention to use smart homes in Shandong Province, China, by integrating the Expectation–Confirmation Model of Information Systems and the Technology Acceptance Model and incorporating China-specific contextual antecedents, including government policy, intergenerational technical support, compatibility, and cost. Data were collected using an online questionnaire survey of older adults aged 60 years and older with prior smart home experience (n = 421) and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results showed that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, satisfaction, and cost directly affected continuance intention, whereas government policy, compatibility, and intergenerational technical support influenced continuance intention through perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and confirmation. Based on these results, this study proposes a conceptual framework for understanding older adults’ continuance intention toward smart homes. The findings provide implications for inclusive policy, user-centered design, and family-supported digital aging in rapidly aging societies.

Public transport systems must accommodate diverse passenger needs, yet seating designs for special-needs groups—such as the elderly, pregnant women, and adults with children—often lack tailored functionality and ergonomic refinement. Moreover, the design process is compounded by the inherent complexities of the public transport engineering environment, such as stringent spatial constraints, diverse and conflicting user needs, and rigorous safety regulations. To address this challenge, this study proposes a new technology for human-centered requirement analysis that integrates the requirement categorization and ergonomics for systematic product application. Based on field observations and KJ-based interviews with eight volunteers, nine key user needs were identified and hierarchically structured. A Kano questionnaire was administered to 12 passengers, resulting in eight valid responses that classified requirements into must-be (e.g., safety), one-dimensional (e.g., spaciousness), and attractive (e.g., seat availability) attributes. Ergonomics constraints guided the translation of these demands into quantifiable design parameters. The proposed seat features a 20° central-axis tilt for easier access, a modular 0.02 m² triangular area for enhanced utility, and a biomechanically optimized backrest. Design validation through virtual layout experiments and ergonomic analysis confirms improvements in functionality and user satisfaction. The study demonstrates the efficacy of the proposed technology in navigating real-world engineering complexities. It provides a systematic framework for transforming ambiguous user needs into feasible and optimized design parameters under multiple constraints. ? Keywords: Product engineering, Product application, Community bus, Seats for special group, Ergonomics, Human-centered design, User requirements analysis, Kano model, KJ method, Public transportation design, Inclusive design, Assistive seating, Passenger comfort, Design optimization, Requirement prioritization

As sustainable tourism practices gain traction globally, immersive technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have emerged as effective tools to enrich visitor experiences while supporting heritage site preservation. Particularly within built cultural environments, these technologies facilitate non-invasive interpretation of architectural spaces, enabling sustainable interaction with fragile historical structures. Despite growing scholarly attention, existing research has primarily focused on the pre-adoption phase or the technical affordances of AR/VR, with limited understanding of user behavior in the post-adoption phase. To address this gap, this study integrates the Expectation Confirmation Model (ECM) with the experiential attributes of AR/VR-enabled heritage applications, proposing an integrated theoretical model to identify key determinants of tourists’ continuance intention. Based on 434 valid survey responses collected at the Terracotta Warriors Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM), the results reveal that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, satisfaction, and confirmation directly influence continuance intention, while visual appeal, entertainment, enjoyment, interactivity and confirmation exert indirect effects through mediating mechanisms. The findings contribute theoretically by extending ECM to the heritage tourism domain and empirically by providing robust evidence from a high-profile non-Western site. Practically, this study offers actionable implications for designing immersive experiences that enhance post-visit continuance intention and align with broader sustainability objectives.

Understanding the various touchpoints of interaction throughout the journey of young tourists on cruises, in light of their evolving travel behavior, is crucial for improving travel planning. However, previous studies have often overemphasized specific service touchpoints, overlooking their connections within the broader journey context. To improve satisfaction measurement, this study introduces a new evaluation system, the “Quad + SICAS” touchpoints model, which incorporates: (1) phases: travel planning and decision-making; (2) channels: social media or traditional channels; and (3) touchpoint controllers: the firm or the tourist side. An in-depth evaluation of the cruise journey experience, involving 25 identified touchpoints with 301 young tourists, was conducted. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) revealed a strong fit for an evaluation index system composed of 23 touchpoints. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) further demonstrated the significant impact of four types of touchpoints, including social media, traditional channels controlled by either the firm or the tourist, on overall satisfaction. Using this diverse evaluation framework, tailored recommendations for enhancing satisfaction among young cruise tourists can be developed, taking into account the varying nature of touchpoints across different cruise lines. These findings suggest that the “Quad + SICAS” touchpoints model can be effectively applied in marketing strategies within cruise tourism.

Background: With an aging population and the continuous advancement of smart technology, the Chinese government is exploring smart elderly care models to address the challenges posed by aging. Although smart home systems are viewed as a promising solution, their adoption rate among older people remains low. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the behavioral intention to use smart home systems among older people in Linyi City, Shandong Province, China. Methods: A literature review revealed a lack of quantitative research on older people’s behavioral intention toward smart home systems based on the Innovation Diffusion Theory. This study developed an extended model based on the Innovation Diffusion Theory, Technology Acceptance Model, and external variables, incorporating eight variables: intergenerational technical support, perceived cost, self-reported health conditions, compatibility, observability, trialability, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and behavioral intention. Results: Analysis of 387 valid questionnaires showed that compatibility and trialability significantly and positively affect perceived ease of use, while self-reported health conditions, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness have significant effects on behavioral intention. In addition, perceived cost had a negative influence on behavioral intention. Contributions/Significance: These findings highlight the importance of considering these factors in the design of smart home systems to improve user experience and provide valuable practical guidance to smart home system developers, R&D institutions, and policymakers.

Previous research have demonstrated the efficiency of card-based design heuristics in product design courses, but the product case sources selected for these design heuristics have been too homogeneous and have targeted design goals, making it difficult for product design students to use them quickly and accurately in the classroom. As new products continue to iterate, previous design heuristics are no longer fully meeting the requirements of product design education. There is no process for developing design heuristics for course-targeted products that would allow design school teachers and students to develop new design heuristics on their own, based on course objectives. This study proposes case-based design heuristics (CBDHS) to support product design students in idea generation and a step-by-step process for constructing CBDHS. In addition, this study develops an eco-friendly product packaging example to validate the applicability of CBDHS in product design courses using an empirical evaluation. A total of 38 product design students participated in this quasi-experiment and were asked to generate as many ideas as possible in 45 min, with the experimental group (19 participants) generating ideas using CBDHS and the control group (19 participants) generating ideas using the brainstorming method. This quasi-experiment evaluated the ideas generated by each participant using five evaluation metrics (quantity, novelty, quality, number of good ideas, and level of design fixation). The results of the experiment show that (1) in terms of the number of ideas, the experimental group (M = 10.95, SD = 4.14) produced fewer ideas per participant on average than the control group (M = 13.68, SD = 4.44), t(36) = 1.966, p = 0.057; (2) regarding the novelty of ideas, there is no statistically significant difference between the control group (M = 4.00, SD = 1.47) and the experimental group (M = 4.48, SD = 1.56), t(149) = −1.928, p = 0.056; (3) with respect to the quality of ideas, there is no statistically significant difference between the control group (M = 4.19, SD = 1.96) and the experimental group (M = 4.40, SD = 2.05), t(149) = −0.648, p = 0.518; and (4) concerning the number of good ideas, there is a significant difference in the value of the proportion of the control group (9.5%) versus the experimental group (31.3%), x²(1, n = 151) = 11.44, p = 0.001. (5) There is no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of the level of design fixation. CBDHS can support product design students in generating ideas for the targeted products of the course, and the integration of CBDHS into the product design curriculum can help teachers to impart innovative ideas to students, ultimately leading to an improvement in teaching quality.

With the continuous evolution of mobile communication systems, 5G technology has become a key driver for a smart home appliance ecosystem. Fifth-generation technology may create opportunities and threats for the home appliance industry in the stock market, and so companies that do not actively engage in product innovation activities will eventually be eliminated from the market because their products are not on trend. This study investigates Chinese household appliance industry firms to identify their innovation strategies, applied to cope with global competition and gain a competitive advantage, and explores the correlation and operation mode between innovation strategies and design strategies. For this study, we administered a questionnaire to analyze three innovation clusters for Chinese household appliance firms. Interviews were conducted to further understand the design strategies and priorities of Chinese home appliance companies in response to 5G technology, to explore the relationship between innovation strategies and product design strategies, and to provide a reference for the product design strategies of home appliance companies in response to global competition.