The Object Management Group in the Kernel and Language for Software Engineering Methods (Essence), Version 1.2 standard, defines the practice as a repeatable approach to accomplish a specific purpose. Practice provides a systematic and verifiable way of approaching a particular aspect of a job. The practice has a clear objective expressed in terms of the results that its application allows and provides a guide to help professionals in what must be done to achieve the goal, to ensure that the objective is understood, and to verify that it is completed (Object Management Group, 2018). The Essence Standard, as defined by the Object Management Group, outlines practice as a repeatable approach with a specific purpose. This involves:

Eclipse Process Framework Composer (EPFC) is a tool for software process management in organizations. EPFC allows processes to be defined from software practices embedded in methods. In EPFC, practice is a documented approach to solving one or several commonly occurring problems. The practice in EPFC is associated with the work products that the practice generates, the tasks that define the development steps of the practice, the guidelines that indicate the practice’s application, and the participants’ roles (Eclipse Foundation, 2020).

An environment is everything that surrounds us, with which we can interact and where and with which we develop life. How it is configured will determine our possibilities of growing in it and adapting our lives (Muntadas, 2014).

Inclusive environments are adaptive, fluid, and evolving contexts that accommodate ICT-enabled spaces, designs, and services that involve an interactive dynamic of people, technologies, and cities with emerging forms (interactions, relationships, urbanization) and attributes (awareness, choice, improvisation) (McKenna, 2019).

Older adults are defined according to several characteristics, including chronological age, social role change, and functional abilities (Kang; Pai; Kim, 2019).

In this order of ideas, when speaking of environments for the inclusion of the elderly, reference is made to the adaptations that give them access to information, allow older adults to interact in different social contexts, and help to improve their quality of life, considering that in some cases their cognitive or physical abilities are diminished.

Literacy in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) involves effectively adopting, adapting, and using digital devices, applications, and services. This includes navigating online platforms and utilizing various software tools, such as word processors, presentation software, and Learning Management Systems (LMS) (Insuasti; Roa; Zapata-Jaramillo, 2023). Strong ICT skills are essential for online learners’ success, as courses may require activities like video conferencing, web design, podcasting, or video creation. Developing patience and problem-solving skills to learn new software tools is also integral to ICT literacy (Nedeljko; Bogataj; Kaucic, 2021).

The ICT literacy is increasingly crucial in elder education, equipping older adults with essential skills to navigate the digital world. The ICT literacy enables seniors to stay connected with family and friends through social media, email, and video calls, reducing feelings of isolation and enhancing their social well-being. Moreover, it provides access to a wealth of information and services, including online banking, telehealth, and educational resources, which promote lifelong learning and independence. By fostering ICT literacy, elder education programs help bridge the digital divide, empowering older adults to participate fully in the modern, technology-driven society and improve their overall quality of life.

The relevant studies that underwent the analysis process and the corresponding class diagram are presented below. In these class diagrams, the class that represents the Practice is painted yellow to indicate that it is the main object of study of this research. In addition, the types that describe the characteristics expected in at least two studies that are part of the research are painted blue. Those classes that represent the specific characteristics of a study are painted in white.

In Gutierrez et al. (2017), the author’s experience designing and implementing various versions of the Social Connector system, a computer-supported family communication mediator, is reported as a case study that helps identify critical factors that facilitate family communication – the adoption of intelligent system environments that foster intergenerational family communication at home. The particularity of the study is to bring together widely available mass-market technology, such as commercial tablet PCs and TV screens, coupled with innovative software, as a way to drive system adoption through affordable hardware, and also to that critical design factors identified in the study can be used to inform the design and modeling of intelligent system environments that help older adults address various aspects of their aging process, such as health monitoring, personal security, social commitment, support for daily activities – and promoting well-being. The practices used in this study are design and implementation, case studies, and critical design factors. Figure 1 shows the class diagram that was obtained when performing the analysis.

The same procedure was followed for the construction of the class diagrams of the following six studies:

In Shore et al. (2018), the authors contribute to the user-centered design of exoskeletons and prospective approaches to studying older adults’ technological acceptance of such devices. In this study, the evolution of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is made in relation to the applications of gerontechnology. The importance of Assistive Technology (AT) models in assessing the suitability of devices for a person with a disability is discussed. A clear result of the research is the need for empirical research on older adults’ use and perceptions of exoskeleton technologies to broaden their understanding of the theoretical and design factors affecting their adoption. The methodology used is User-Centered Design (UCD).

In Minge and Cymek (2020), the attractiveness of various gamification features embedded in an ICT learning software prototype is investigated and compared with a non-gamified version. The results indicate that the gamified ICT learning software appeals to older people in general but that the acceptance of different gamification features is quite diverse. They did not find a clear superiority of adding gamification to software. After interacting with both software versions, seniors either preferred the non-gamified or gamified versions or could not decide. Seniors who chose the gamified version particularly liked the continuous positive feedback and receiving rewards for each task they accomplished. In contrast, the remaining seniors did not enjoy the intensive support through these two features and decided not to use the gamified version. However, they wanted many of the other features of the game. Their results underscore the need for a user-centric design approach when developing game-inspired apps.

The project called “Photo Alive” is presented in the study of Syeda and Kwon (2017); it is a proposal for a system and a smartphone application based on a camera to capture photos and send them to a TV or through Social Network Services (SNS). “Photo Alive“ has a picture gallery where you can display various photos in various patterns and a photo tagging service where you add and listen to audio messages. This app effortlessly bridges the intergenerational gap between older and younger generations by providing a friendly platform for older people using simple, intelligent interfaces and techniques such as remote control, touch panel, and voice. After the development stage, the system was evaluated using techniques that are easily accessible to the elderly by providing user-friendly and intelligent interfaces for the elderly without complications. This application was made using the development method of prototypes and evaluation by Stakeholders.

In Archundia et al. (2016), the authors present a work whose purpose is focused on the design and development of a mobile application for devices with the Android system to serve as a personal navigation tool to share the location of users quickly and easily of the elderly, seeking to provide security and facilitate greater inclusion of the use of technology to this population, on the other hand, the design allows the configuration of mobile-accessible interfaces for older adults with hearing and visual disabilities. The Extreme Programming methodology, Universal Design, and the integrated technologies of Webservices, PHP, MYSQL, Java, and Apache were used for the mobile application development. Figure 4 shows the class diagram that was obtained after performing the analysis.

In García-Sánchez (2017), the development of a distributed application that allows people over 60 to contact each other to find company and friendly relationships is presented. In its development, an iterative and incremental software process based on the spiral software process was followed, with an object-oriented analysis and design approach and incorporating good security practices in the software development life cycle (S-SDLC). This way, these technologies’ use for social purposes was explored.

In Bravo-Torres et al. (2017), the authors present the architecture of the intelligent assistance platform for elderly care (SAFER). The platform’s objective is to provide an integrated set of intelligent services that improve the quality of life and social integration of the elderly. The architecture proposed in the study uses technological advances in services and information security to fulfill its objective (to promote social interaction among the elderly). In addition, a first application for the platform is presented, which consists of an application that recommends events preferred by the elderly, which can be attended by creating sporadic groups with people with similar tastes.

Taking the class diagrams as input and considering that the objective of the information synthesis is to define a general form of practice, all the classes identified in the relevant studies are initially listed. The result of this task is shown in Table 2.

Subsequently, the classes repeated in at least two studies are identified. Finally, based on the identified classes, an exhaustive analysis is made of those classes that are not repeated and are essential to define the final general form of the practice. In addition, classes pertinent to the particularity of studies and not to the definition of the last available form of the course are excluded. The result of this task is shown in Table 3.

The characterization of the software development practice aimed at generating inclusive environments for older adults is conducted based on the results obtained in the information synthesis. Specifically, the classes listed in Table 3 are used to build the class diagram that describes the final general form of the practice, as shown in Figure 2. In this diagram, the Practica class is painted yellow to highlight it. As the main object of study of this research, the types that represent the characteristics that are common in at least two studies that are part of the research are painted in blue. In addition, the types that describe the necessary factors, even if used less frequently (Equipment and Task), are painted white.

To verify if the elements that characterize and constitute the general form of practice are sufficient to define existing practices for the development of software aimed at generating inclusion environments for the elderly, studies as Kunnappilly et al. (2017) and Ordoñez et al. (2017) were identified as practices for developing software to generate inclusive environments for the elderly.

Next, using the elements identified as characteristics of the practices recorded in Table 3, the practices presented by the studies that serve as validation experience of the characterization of practices for developing software aimed at generating inclusion environments for the elderly are defined. These definitions are presented as class diagrams. The class that represents the Practice is painted yellow to indicate that it is the main object of study, and the lessons that represent the common characteristics in practice are painted blue. At least two studies are part of the research, and the classes represent the characteristics considered necessary in white, although they are used less frequently.

At Kunnappilly et al. (2017), a novel architectural solution is proposed that integrates the necessary functions of an Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) system, which can be seen as a fully integrated solution with selected functionalities based on the user’s choices. The proposed architecture is designed considering the pros and cons of the existing AALs in the literature. The class diagram that describes the practice obtained from the study was made using the elements that characterize the patterns.

In Ordoñez et al. (2017), an application is presented to promote social interaction among the elderly. This application is part of the SAFER platform and is focused on meeting the needs of these people. The application stores the profiles of the elderly with the types of events of their preference in a database. A search is done on the web of the events that take place in the city; then, a comparison is made based on the content, and if the characteristics of this event coincide with those preferred by the older adult, the event is recommended the person who indicates place, date, and time. In addition, the system recommends forming a sporadic social group of older adults with similar preferences with whom the older person can interact.

The definition of the practice presented in Ordoñez et al. (2017), which is indicated in Figure 3, shows the elements that characterize the practices. These elements are sufficient to describe the practice proposed by the study’s authors.

Once the validation has been conducted, it can be deduced that the characterization of practices identified in this research is sufficient to define existing practices used for developing software to generate inclusive environments for the elderly. Existing practices can be described with the features that characterized the practice and were identified in the Systematic Literature Review. New practices can be built to develop software to generate inclusive environments for older adults. The elements that characterize the practice allow describing practices that facilitate the developer’s application in authentic contexts.