{"691717":{"#nid":"691717","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Essie Knows Best","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech industrial design students traveled to an Atlanta nursing home expecting to redesign gardening tools for older adults. Instead, they discovered that the residents themselves were their most important teachers. Working alongside horticultural therapy participants at A.G. Rhodes, the students observed how aging changes the way people interact with everyday objects and learned that good design begins with listening, not assumptions. Together, they developed practical solutions that restored small but meaningful moments of independence, proving that the people living with a problem are indispensable partners in solving it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.research.gatech.edu\/feature\/essie-knows-best\u0022\u003ERead more \u00bb\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"The lesson only nursing home residents can teach Georgia Tech design students."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech industrial design students traveled to an Atlanta nursing home expecting to redesign gardening tools for older adults. Instead, they discovered that the residents themselves were their most important teachers. Working alongside horticultural therapy participants at A.G. Rhodes, the students observed how aging changes the way people interact with everyday objects and learned that good design begins with listening, not assumptions. Together, they developed practical solutions that restored small but meaningful moments of independence, proving that the people living with a problem are indispensable partners in solving it.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Designing with people, rather than for them, can restore independence while teaching future designers lessons no classroom alone can provide."}],"uid":"27255","created_gmt":"2026-08-17 13:40:52","changed_gmt":"2026-08-17 16:37:22","author":"Josie Giles","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680891":{"id":"680891","type":"image","title":"essie-final-thumb.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003ELEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE: Georgia Tech industrial design student Olivia Chan (left) works alongside A.G. Rhodes resident Essie Bailey-Demic during a horticultural therapy session. By observing and designing with residents rather than for them, students developed tools that help restore independence.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1786981054","gmt_created":"2026-08-17 15:37:34","changed":"1786981054","gmt_changed":"2026-08-17 15:37:34","alt":"Two people work with potted plants in a greenhouse filled with hanging and tabletop greenery during a gardening activity.","file":{"fid":"265223","name":"essie-final-thumb.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/17\/essie-final-thumb.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/17\/essie-final-thumb.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":518282,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/17\/essie-final-thumb.jpg?itok=pFwAUrAx"}}},"media_ids":["680891"],"groups":[{"id":"69599","name":"IPaT"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"195203","name":"go-noshow"},{"id":"188084","name":"go-ipat"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}