“Age-friendly design isn’t about creating exceptional solutions just for older adults. It’s about designing for human variation and dignity throughout the entire lifespan”

—Ron Nabarro (2026, p. 50)

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Overview
The experimental D4L Unclock Framework (Lee, 2025) serves as a mental model for rethinking longevity beyond chronological age. As societies transition from the traditional three-stage life—education, work, and retirement—to increasingly multi-stage lives, chronological age alone becomes a less meaningful indicator of how people live and contribute to society. Rather it is better understood as representing multiple life stages, each characterized by evolving aspirations, roles, and opportunities (Golden, 2022).

We will examine the concept of lifestyle age (Nabarro, 2026), which captures the rhythm and character of everyday life. Unlike chronological age, lifestyle age reflects how individuals choose to live physically, socially, and emotionally throughout their lives. It acknowledges the diverse ways people navigate opportunities and challenges across different life stages, emphasizing how they organize their daily routines, and remain connected to communities, relationships, and meaningful activities.  Thus, aging becomes an ongoing expression of identity, purpose, and lifelong growth.

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Reading Material

• Nabarro, R. (2026). Design with heart: Age-friendly design in practice: Designing products, services, environments, and systems for a world of longevity. In Design4All. 

• Clinton, M. (2026). Longevity nation: The people, ideas, and trends changing the second half of our lives. In Atria Books/Beyond Words.

• Golden, S. W. (2022). Stage (not age): How to understand and serve people over 60—the fastest-growing, most dynamic market in the world. In Harvard Business Review Press. 

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