An investigation to obtain a simple mobile phone interface for older adults

Mobile phones are essential for everyone in the world including the elderly population since the device could act as a long-range communicator between two different people. However, the current problems with the existing mobile phone are that its complex features and interface designs have intimidated some elder users from using the device. This paper addresses this problem by identifying the necessary features to have for these special users. An interview and a survey were conducted to a selected group of older users. Among the findings include a larger display, a touched screen, labeled icons and larger fonts are necessary in a mobile phone design. The existing features from a mobile phone that should be omitted include those functions that are related to the entertainments. These findings provide insights for designing a simpler mobile phone interface for older adults.