Understanding the Challenges and Opportunities of Smart Mobile Devices among the Oldest Old

While smart mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers, and e-readers, are becoming more common among older populations, little is known about the user experience of this technology for older adults in naturalistic settings or how this demographic sustains use of these devices over time. To understand this, the research team conducted 18 months of contextual inquiry within two computer rooms at one senior residential facility and semi-structured interviews with 28 older adults age 80+ within the same community. The analysis examines older adults' experiences around adoption and usage of smart mobile devices, the challenges presented by these devices as a platform for communication, and the nuances of maintaining these devices over time in the context of late-life disability. The paper concludes with a discussion of design considerations for future work aimed at improving the user experience of smart mobile devices for older adults.

[1]  Chaiwoo Lee.  Adoption of Smart Technology Among Older Adults: Challenges and Issues , 2014 .

[2]  Robin L. Hill,et al.  Keeping In Touch: Talking to Older People about Computers and Communication , 2007 .

[3]  Somnath Chatterji,et al.  Health in an ageing world—what do we know? , 2015, The Lancet.

[4]  Atsuo Murata,et al.  Usability of Touch-Panel Interfaces for Older Adults , 2005, Hum. Factors.

[5]  Cara Bailey Fausset,et al.  Older Adults' Training Preferences for Learning to Use Technology , 2008, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ... Annual Meeting. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Annual Meeting.

[6]  Risto Sarvas,et al.  A little silly and empty-headed: older adults' understandings of social networking sites , 2009 .

[7]  Beom Suk Jin,et al.  A Study of Pointing Performance of Elderly Users on Smartphones , 2013, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact..

[8]  Sri Hastuti Kurniawan,et al.  An Exploratory Study of How Older Women Use Mobile Phones , 2006, UbiComp.

[9]  L. Damodaran,et al.  Falling Off the Bandwagon? Exploring the Challenges to Sustained Digital Engagement by Older People , 2013, Gerontology.

[10]  Young Sek Kim.  Reviewing and Critiquing Computer Learning and Usage Among Older Adults , 2008 .

[11]  Arthur D. Fisk,et al.  Older adults talk technology: Technology usage and attitudes , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[12]  Karen Holtzblatt,et al.  Contextual design , 1997, INTR.

[13]  N. Selwyn.  The information aged: A qualitative study of older adults' use of information and communications technology , 2004 .

[14]  Darren Gergle,et al.  "Back and forth, back and forth": channel switching in romantic couple conflict , 2013, CSCW.

[15]  M. Skubic,et al.  Older adults' attitudes towards and perceptions of ‘smart home’ technologies: a pilot study , 2004, Medical informatics and the Internet in medicine.

[16]  Jacqueline H. Watts,et al.  Ethical and practical challenges of participant observation in sensitive health research , 2011 .

[17]  Josep Blat,et al.  Older People Becoming Successful ICT Learners Over Time: Challenges and Strategies Through an Ethnographical Lens , 2013 .

[18]  N. Charness,et al.  Factors Predicting the Use of Technology: Findings From the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) , 2006 .

[19]  TangCharlotte,et al.  How Older Adults Learn to Use Mobile Devices , 2012 .

[20]  Gavriel Salvendy,et al.  Age-related difference in the use of mobile phones , 2014, Universal Access in the Information Society.

[21]  Liana M. Kiff,et al.  Touch Screen User Interfaces for Older Adults: Button Size and Spacing , 2007, HCI.

[22]  Tonya L. Smith-Jackson,et al.  A heuristic checklist for an accessible smartphone interface design , 2013, Universal Access in the Information Society.

[23]  Mark Blythe,et al.  Socially dependable design: The challenge of ageing populations for HCI , 2005, Interact. Comput..

[24]  E. Cornwell,et al.  Social Disconnectedness, Perceived Isolation, and Health among Older Adults∗ , 2009, Journal of health and social behavior.

[25]  Ronald Baecker,et al.  Using participatory activities with seniors to critique, build, and evaluate mobile phones , 2007, Assets '07.

[26]  Eulàlia Hernández-Encuentra,et al.  ICT and Older People: Beyond Usability , 2009 .

[27]  Patrick Carrington,et al.  Wearables and chairables: inclusive design of mobile input and output techniques for power wheelchair users , 2014, CHI.

[28]  Vicki L. Hanson.  Technology skill and age: what will be the same 20 years from now? , 2011, Universal Access in the Information Society.

[29]  Kate Sellen,et al.  Technology to reduce social isolation and loneliness , 2014, ASSETS.

[30]  Kallirroi Georgila,et al.  Being Old Doesn’t Mean Acting Old: How Older Users Interact with Spoken Dialog Systems , 2009, TACC.

[31]  Dong Xuan,et al.  Mobile phone-based pervasive fall detection , 2010, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing.

[32]  Peter Graf,et al.  Multi-Layered Interfaces to Improve Older Adults’ Initial Learnability of Mobile Applications , 2010, TACC.

[33]  K. Charmaz,et al.  Constructing Grounded Theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis Kathy Charmaz Constructing Grounded Theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis Sage 224 £19.99 0761973532 0761973532 [Formula: see text]. , 2006, Nurse researcher.

[34]  Peter Graf,et al.  How Older Adults Learn to Use Mobile Devices: Survey and Field Investigations , 2012, TACC.

[35]  Sri Hastuti Kurniawan,et al.  Older people and mobile phones: A multi-method investigation , 2008, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[36]  Peter Graf,et al.  Age-related differences in the initial usability of mobile device icons , 2011, Behav. Inf. Technol..