SmartUp Fact Sheet: Why We Need More Inclusive Smart Home Research?

This fact sheet addresses the exclusionary consequences of designing smart homes around a so-called “neutral” user—typically imagined as tech-savvy, male, and living in a traditional household. Such assumptions overlook the needs of women, LGBTQ+ people, older adults, disabled users, migrants, and caregivers, leading to unequal access to the benefits of smart technologies and, at times, reinforcing existing vulnerabilities. The document argues that building equitable smart homes requires a paradigm shift: from designing for an abstract user to engaging with the full diversity of real domestic lives. It emphasizes participatory approaches, cross-sector collaboration, and attention to marginalized voices as key steps toward shaping smart homes that empower rather than exclude, and that contribute to a fairer and more humane digital future.