Guidelines and Strategies for Designing Transgenerational Products is a resource manual that provides critical specialized information necessary for designing effective—and desirable—transgenerational products and environments.

Intended for those without specialized knowledge of the aging process, this 113-page manual informs readers about the realities of human aging and offers a useful set of design guidelines and strategies for designing products that accommodate — and appeal to — users of all ages and abilities.

Decisions made on the basis of erroneous assumptions or myths about any group will reduce the overall utility and effectiveness of the final product for all. Guidelines and Strategies for Designing Transgenerational Products will help assure that the products and environments you design, produce or acquire for older users will reflect a realistic understanding of the aging process.

• Section One discusses how designers can respond to an aging population and presents an overview of aging from a transgenerational perspective.

• Section Two develops the relationship between product design and the aging process by linking specific knowledge and information about both areas.

• Section Three offers a transgenerational response by answering the "so what?" questions. That is, given the facts about the aging process, how can products and environments be designed or improved to accommodate people of all ages and abilities — without penalty to any group?

Written for design professionals, Guidelines and Strategies for Designing Transgenerational Products was supported, in part, by Grant Number 90-AT-0182, from the Administration OIffice of Human Development Services, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC 20201, and the All-University Gerontology Center, Syracuse University.

This unique set of design guidelines and strategies will help ensure that the products and environments you design will, indeed, be transgenerational.