Toward a Good Design for Older Users

keywords: qualitative study, user challenges, accessibility, aging and technology

Related publication: ASSETS 2020 [pdf]

The Problem

AARP reported that despite increased smartphone and tablet use among older adults, two in five 50+ adults feel technology isn't designed for them due to app complexities. While mobile tech uptake among seniors is notable, their actual usage is nuanced: they use fewer apps and features compared to younger users.

This underscores the need for enhancements in the approach and design of existing senior-friendly apps and devices. Thus, we initiated research on older adults' mobile device usage from its most fundamental stages.

This project aimed to address the following research question:
What challenges do older adults encounter when using digital maps on modern mobile devices?



Approach & Method



Task-focused exploratory study &
Semi-structured interview

Pilot tests with surveys and diary studies did not generate data of sufficient quality; survey responses were shallow and diary reports included assistance from family members or caregivers.
Thus, we designed an exploratory qualitative study with a task-focused concurrent think-aloud protocol, where participants verbalized their thoughts during task execution.


Google Maps is reportedly the most universal smartphone activity across all age groups. Unlike some prior studies, We decided against studying a simplified custom-designed map application.
We wanted to examine how older adults tackle the complexities of a popular, mainstream mobile maps app and gather unassisted user interaction data in realistic usage scenarios.




Tasks
  1. Find how to go from Chicago Midway Airport to 540 West Madison using public transportation.
  2. Find how to walk from the Drake Hotel to the Museum of Contemporary Art when GPS information is unavailable.
  3. Find an ice cream shop nearby, decide on a mode of transport (either drive, rideshare, or walk), and then share the location of the ice cream shop with the interviewer.



User Study & Data analysis

Participants
  • 17 participants.
  • 60 years old or above living in the Metro-Chicago area.
  • Capable of independent navigation.
  • Own a smartphone and/or tablet.
  • Familiar with digital map applications.


Settings
  • A place of participant’s choice.
  • Seated with no restrictions on their posture.
  • Used their own mobile devices.
  • No time limit was imposed.
  • No one app version or OS was prescribed.

Data Analysis
  • Atlas.ti was used for video coding.
  • Two experts independently identified instances of interaction problems and coded them into motor or non-motor issues.
  • Used Cohen's kappa to quantify the level of agreement
    (Cohen’s κ = .97, p < .001).


Result Highlight

Discoverability and information scent significantly impact the user experience.

Seniors encountered more motor issues (e.g., typo, mis-swipe) but spent more time troubleshooting non-motor issues (e.g.,finding features, navigation issue).

None of our users gave up a task for a motor issue.
19 times users abandon a task on account of non-motor issues.




They know what they need to do for the next step and the name of it.

They struggle to identify and locate the feature, not due to a lack of understanding of icons or labels, but often because they just could not find features on screen.

Older adults could articulate what they were looking for either by specifying the feature's name or describing it.





What they are looking for is
on their screen

When participants couldn’t find what they were looking for, they went back-and-forth the same sequence of pages and got stuck in a loop.

The correct step was always on one of the pages
that participants kept revisiting.



Resources