This doctoral research aims to understand the dynamics and challenges faced by ’secondary users’ within shared smart home environments—individuals who interact with smart home technology in their homes but do not initiate or maintain it. It delves into potential power imbalances within shared smart homes, which may reinforce traditional gender roles and lead to conflicts. The research examines how roles are distributed within partnerships and families, focusing on involving secondary users in the design process for designing more inclusive smart home environments. The work is based on a series of interconnected studies, such as co-design workshops and expert interviews with book designers, to inform the design process of tangible user interfaces that can provide control, facilitate effective communication with other household members, and empower secondary users to actively shape their shared smart home environments.

The number of connected devices in-home has increased rapidly, and connected solutions in smart homes do not yet cover needs of all inhabitants. We explored future interfaces that blend seamlessly with the home interior in co-creation sessions with people from diverse co-living situations. The results contribute to acknowledging a home’s complexity considering shared households as places where many needs meet and possibly contradict each other. Based on findings from three workshop sessions with a total of 12 participants, we present two themes of relevance when designing for smart homes. Covering both, a smart home can adapt to users’ needs and become valuable members of multi-people households while maintaining the characteristics of a home for all individuals.