Abstract

The fast-paced nature of technology calls for practical and holistic approaches to building the digital skills of diverse and disadvantaged groups in a way that meets their needs. Digital Inclusion efforts are scaling beyond the use of technological tools to include addressing the ability and opportunity of individuals and communities to leverage these tools to improve their quality of life. This paper proposes a method for co-creating digital task training tools to support technology caregivers in providing technology-related assistance to members of historically underserved communities. Our proposed method involves a collaborative design process between trainers and technology caregivers categorized in groups of youth in middle and high schools, adult parents of kids of school-going age, and seniors who are 65 years and above. Together, we develop digital training tools that are tailored to the specific needs and preferences of the target user group. The paper outlines the design process and presents a case study demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method. The progress from our process shows that the co-creation approach leads to the development of training tools that are more user-friendly, relevant, and effective in enhancing the digital skills of technology caregivers. The use of user-centered design principles can also help to ensure that the tools are accessible and easy to use for a wide range of users.