Housing under a shared housing organisation enables frail elderly persons to live in a semi autonomous way, thanks to cooperation between residents and an assistant. The social organization of this new type of housing also has an impact on the social participation of users. This article is based on a pilot study and deals with the benefits of digital technologies and “ambient intelligence” used to answer the needs of such a way of living.

The pilot study was carried out in a house shared by 6 co-tenants. The qualitative method used first consisted in a characterisation of the 6 inhabitants. This was followed by semi-structured interviews about their sensed needs, and a focus group, with 5 of the 6 co-tenants, in order to gain an initial consensus about needs.

This result was confronted to the demands of the assistants, collected through interviews. A usage scenario was developed in a smart home (Maison Intelligente de Blagnac). This scenario was performed by three of the inhabitants and followed by a second focus group and a narrative interview with the assistants and the designers of the shared house. This article reports the method which was carried out and the needs expressed by the co-tenants.