Design for Aging Resources was created to help designers, educators, students, and community partners explore aging with curiosity, empathy, and joy. The site gathers tools, research, case studies, and learning materials from gerontology, design, health, and community practice and brings them into one place—so people don't have to search across scattered disciplines to find what they need.
Aging is universal, but no two people experience it in the same way. Our mission is to support a deeper understanding of the many changes—physical, emotional, cultural, and social—that shape our lives as we grow older. We want to help people move beyond ideas of decline and towards a mindset that recognizes opportunity, resilience, and possibility.
Everything on this site is carefully curated. Each resource is selected because it offers something meaningful: a tool that helps us design with more care, an article that expands our understanding of aging, a framework that supports accessible or joyful experiences, or a story that encourages us to see aging in a new way. We review submissions and discover new work with the goal of creating a collection that is useful, welcoming, and aligned with our mission of promoting age-inclusive design.
Our hope is that by making these materials visible and easy to explore, they inspire design that helps everyone feel a sense of belonging across the lifespan.
Let's Design for Joy.
We envision a future where design plays an active role in helping people feel supported, connected, and valued as they age. In this future, aging is understood as a natural and meaningful part of life, and designers have the tools and knowledge they need to shape environments and experiences that honor this truth.
This site reflects that vision. It is built as a living, growing archive that highlights the best tools and ideas at the intersection of aging and design. The topics, categories, tags, and resource cards are designed to make exploration approachable rather than overwhelming. Visitors can follow a thread of interest, discover new ideas, and learn through materials that feel inviting and easy to use.
Inspired by archival theory, we treat curation as an act of care. What we choose to include, how we describe it, and how we organize it shapes the way people encounter these ideas. Our intention is to make knowledge about aging feel accessible, hopeful, and full of possibility.
Ultimately, our vision is to support a culture where people of all ages feel like they belong, and where design supports us throughout our lives in ways big and small.
Design for Aging Resources is a project of the Design for Care Lab, founded by Kimberly Mitchell, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Kimberly's work bridges design and gerontology, drawing on nearly two decades of teaching, research, and community engagement.
The site is also supported by an extended network of students, interdisciplinary collaborators, and community partners who help research, review, and test resources. Their perspectives, from aging studies, healthcare, social work, community design, and graphic design, shape the site's ongoing development.
As part of this work, the Design for Care Lab offers an interactive workshop called Design for Our Future Selves. The session introduces aging through creativity and reflection, helping participants imagine their own future lives and consider how design can support joy, connection, and belonging as we grow older.
The workshop blends simple prompts with insights from gerontology and is used by designers, educators, students, and community partners who want to build more age-inclusive practices into their work. It serves as a friendly entry point for anyone beginning to explore aging and design.
If you're interested in bringing the workshop to a class, team, or community group, more information is available upon request. Email Kimberly at kmitch57@utk.edu
This site helps people find clear, credible, and welcoming information about aging and design—without having to search across multiple disciplines. It brings together tools, research, case studies, and learning materials in one place so users can easily explore ideas that support thoughtful, age-inclusive design.
Designers, educators, students, gerontologists, healthcare workers, community organizations, caregivers, and anyone curious about how design can positively shape the experience of aging.
Resources can be explored by topic or by type. Topics include areas such as accessibility, inclusive typography, caregiving, co-design, mobility, health, and technology. Categories include toolkits, books, articles, courses, videos, organizations, and frameworks.
Each card offers a short description, information about the creator, and links to visit the original source or download materials.
The goal is ease of use. We want visitors to quickly find materials that support their work—whether they're preparing a lesson, planning a workshop, exploring a new idea, or seeking inspiration for a project. Everything is organized with usability in mind.
Yes. If you know of a thoughtful article, toolkit, organization, or example of age-inclusive work, you can share it through the Contribute page. Submissions help the site grow and remain relevant.
Absolutely. Many instructors use the site to introduce aging and design concepts, guide research, support critique and discussion, or inspire design prompts that help students imagine more inclusive futures.