What is it like to be old ?

When designing a product for people over sixty, it is important that to have a clear understanding of some key aspects of their lives. It is my opinion that following aspects are too general and should be taken into account when designing any product for this age group.

1 - Health and Physical capabilities
Inevitable consequence of getting old is the deterioration of health and physical capabilities. Although it might sound trivial, this is one factor that a product designer cannot afford to overlook. This factor is particularly important because it directly concerns with user's interaction with the product. eg: Lack of hearing might limit the use of an alarm clock design for older people unless product designer taken it to consideration.

2 - Finance
Income of older people varies but in general it is somewhat limited. So there is no point in building a product that the targeted group can't afford. In fact there is a trade-off between the price and the robustness of the product. If sufficient resources are not used to ensure that the product is well built and robust, it will be prone to break often, which is once again not financially friendly to old folks.

3 - Attitude
Old people are usually quite conservative and are reluctant to introduce changes into their lives. This is mainly to do with the fact that as people get older they don't want to make an effort to learn new things, in their eyes it is a waste of time. They are more interested in leading a peaceful and simple life.
So when designing a product one needs to tackle this challenge. In my opinion it can be dealt with two approaches. Product should make a significant difference to the lives of the older people. The difference must be made obvious to the customer. On the other hand the product should have an extremely user friendly interface, so the old people can learn to use it without much of an effort.

4 - Social Background
Final issue we need to consider is the social background. People from different backgrounds have different levels of understanding and need of technology. For example a retired engineer might be able to fix electronic equipment by himself whereas a retired cleaner may need to hire an electrician to fix things for her. Also people have different social practices. For example some older people likes socializing with their families, some are quite happy to lead lonely lives.
I am not suggesting product designers must become elitists. My point is, designer should have a clear idea who he wants to target. Old people (60+) simply is not one unique domain, it is divided into many subsets and social background is one way of identifying these different subsets.

Web Usability for Older Users

I've come across this interesting article on the "SitePoint" website, regarding a study into web usability for older users:

http://www.sitepoint.com/article/improve-usability-older-users

"We recently analysed and compared the results of 16 usability testing sessions. Eight of these sessions were conducted with older users (i.e. over the age of 65), and the other eight were run with younger users (under the age of 40).

The 40-minute 'talk-aloud' sessions involved our asking participants to find information on a range of government web sites. The results of this research provided insights into the ways older users differ from their younger counterparts when it comes to using the Internet."

The results of their findings are summarised as follows:

Assigning Blame

• Older users were more likely to assign blame when using the Internet.
• Three of the eight older participants blamed themselves for any difficulties they encountered ("I don't really know what I'm doing"; "It's probably my fault"; "This always happens to me").
• Four of the older users seemed to blame the site(s) for any difficulties they encountered ("I hate it when websites do this"; "Well, that's stupid"; "That doesn't make any sense").
• Younger users were far less likely to assign explicit blame for any difficulties they encountered, with just one blaming himself.

Emotional Reaction

• Older users were more likely to assign blame when using the Internet.
• Only two of the younger participants expressed themselves in comparably strong terms (both when talking negatively about aspects of a site).

Weaker Mental Models

• Six of the older participants regularly failed to scroll down a page (i.e. did not do so six or more times in a session). This failure often led these participants to miss information that was directly relevant to their task.
• None of the younger participants failed to scroll down a page six or more times in a session.
• This is likely to be attributable to older users not having fully internalised the concept that browser windows often requiring scrolling - a concept that's novel to computer technology.

Technical Language

• Older users were less likely to understand technical language. For instance, a moderator's request to "bring up the minimised window" was not understood by five older users (in comparison to its not being understood by only two of the younger users).
• Older users were at least twice as likely as younger users not to understand the phrases 'Homepage', 'URL' and 'Browser'.

Link Identification

• Older participants were more likely to click on elements of a page that weren't links (an average of 14 times per session, in comparison to the younger participants' average of five times per session).
• Older users reported preferring websites that changed the colour of their visited links, whereas only five of the younger participants considered the matter significant.

Aversion to Downloading

• Of the eight older participants, five expressed a strong aversion to downloading documents from the Internet because they were "worried about bugs [i.e. viruses] and things."
• None of the younger participants expressed such views.

Higher Incidence of 'Search' Usage

• Of the younger participant group, only two individuals used the available search functionality
• Six of the older participant group chose to make use of it. It is possible that this may have developed as a means of compensating for their apparent difficulties or discomfort with traditional browsing.
• It should be noted that all users expected a site to have a single 'Search' function that searched all of the site's content.

Slow Task-completion and Reading

• Older participants required over double the average time of our younger participants to complete a task.
• Three of the older participants also displayed a tendency to read all of the text on a page before being willing to decide on their next course of action. None of the younger participants did this.

Preference for 'Big and Simple' Design

• Seven of the older participants reported anything less than 12-point type as being too small to read comfortably - and even though all users agreed that being able to re-size the text on the screen would be a good idea, only one of them knew how to do so through the browser.

We should consider some of these issues when designing our product.

Pseudo Task Analysis: PC Internet Access

The above video is a recording of a 67 year-old male using a home computer for the first time. The individual knew of the internet and was given the task of gaining access via a typical Windows XP set-up (commencing from the desktop). Minimal instructions were given to the 'subject' with regard to how to operate the mouse and keyboard. If at any point the individual paused or seemed in difficulty, they were given a hint as to how they should proceed. A narrative for the above video sequence would be as follows:

1.The user initially struggles with the optical mouse, sometimes lifting it from the mouse mat. This resulted in the pointer rapidly traversing the screen.

2.They then proceed to explore the 'landscape', moving the pointer as they do so, simultaneously experimenting with the left and right mouse buttons (at this point I advised them to use the left button only).

3.Having noticed the word 'internet' on the Internet Explorer icon, they click on it, but only once. The application fails to open, so they repeat this process (clicking only once) several times.

4.Having failed to open the browser with the above process, they proceed to the Start menu. They explained to me afterward that they expected the internet browser to open when they either pointed or clicked here, and were quite daunted by the menu.

5. Nevertheless, they managed to correctly locate the Internet Explorer icon and subsequently open the browser (revealing Google as the homepage).

6.Here I gave a brief explanation about search engines and ended the recording.

Without question, the individual would not have completed the above task without having undertook some form of tuition, whether that be via a manual, a basic course in computing, or advice from another individual. Our aim is to eliminate the need for such tuition by providing a highly-intuitive product. Removal of the PC as a means of accessing the internet was identified as key to achieving this goal.

* Oh, and apologies for the poor video definition...

Problem Definition: Web Access for Older Users

Background

Figures released in 2002, from the 2001 national census, revealed that the UK has an ageing population and that for the first time ever more people aged over 60 are living in the UK than under the age of 16. Census officials have attributed these findings to improved health-care and living standards, which have seen the proportion of over 60s rise from 16% of the population to 21% in the past 50 years. In addition, it was reported that there were now 1.1 million people aged over 85 living in the UK, which is five times as many as reported in the 1951 survey.

However, despite these findings, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed that although a large number of over 65s are now using the Internet (so called "silver surfers"), just 17% of the over 65s have actually connected to the Internet and gone online (compared to 94% of 16 to 24-year-olds). This statistic is understandable when one considers research conducted by Age Concern, which revealed that a total of 44% of over-50s have no access to a computer at all.

Such findings are important when one also considers that older people tend to be the greatest users of public services and would undoubtedly benefit from the government's plan to ensure that all provision is available to the public electronically. Indeed, many of the UK's ageing population have mobility problems, difficulty in gaining access to sources of information, live alone or want to remain independent and involved. Access to electronic sources of public information would be of great benefit to them, as would the communicative and social opportunities presented by the web.

Problem

Over the last few years several initiatives have been launched to encourage the older generation to learn basic computing and web skills, which have included training sessions on how to use a computer, keyboard and mouse, surf the web and send e-mails. These have helped to promote the ways in which technology can be beneficial to their lifestyle, highlighting the advantages of online shopping, instant access to information and advice, fast global communication with friends and family and the ability to trace family histories.

Nevertheless, despite these developments, we believe several problems remain in encouraging, and enabling, older users to access the web:

• Expense
  For individuals with a low disposable income, especially those living on state pensions, the initial purchase of computer equipment may be too expensive when one considers that a basic multimedia PC package can cost in the region of £300. Furthermore, a monthly subscription of approximately £15 to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) is required to gain access the Internet, which may be too costly for those who already have to budget very carefully on a limited income.
  
  

• Complexity
  Computers are notoriously difficult to use for the average individual, especially those who are embarking upon such technology for the first time or who have limited exposure. This problem transcends age groups, with computers often perplexing those in their 20s or 30s as much as those in their 50s. For older users the problem is magnified, with their own perception of the complexity of the technology being as much as a barrier to their learning and uptake as the hardware itself.
  Furthermore, before one can even start browsing the web, a variety of tasks need to be performed:
  
  

  • the purchased hardware needs to be set-up and configured, with several devices being interconnected by a multitude of cables
    
  • the user needs to learn how to perform (relatively) simple operations such finding and opening files, folders and applications, not to mention booting up the computer and shutting it down
    
  • the user needs to learn how to use a keyboard and operate a mouse
    
  • the user needs to choose a connection package that is suitable for them (such as choosing a speed and download limit despite having no idea how much they'll need) and then needs to select and subscribe to an ISP (which can often only be done online!)
    
  • the user needs to wait for their connection to be activated and follow any necessary installation instructions
    
  • a variety of software needs to be installed, such as operating system updates and anti-virus, spam and trojan software
    
  • the user needs to learn how to launch and use a web browser as well as ensuring they have all the necessary plug-ins (such as a PDF reader and Flash Player)
    
  
  

  Although several of these steps only have to be performed the once, and at the very start, they are time consuming and often frustrating enough to discourage, prevent and defeat many from continuing any further, especially when all they want to do is "get on the Internet".
  
  

• Inconsistency
  Once a user has finally managed to access their first website, and learned how to move forward and backward from one page to another, they will soon discover that rarely are two websites alike. Content is presented in different ways with different layouts, font styles and sizes differ from site to site, and poorly contrasted colour schemes can often render text unreadable. This lack of familiarity and consistency between websites could potentially complicate the web browsing experience for many older users and detract from the information and services they are trying to access.

Summary

Despite an ageing population and the potential benefits the web has to offer to those over the age of 65, there are many obstacles and barriers preventing them from gaining access to the Internet. We believe these can be largely attributed to expense, complexity and inconsistency. Although great advances in HCI have been achieved, many continue to find the modern computer too difficult to use. A user-centred design approach is therefore required to tackle these issues, narrowing the technological divide between generations, and providing the means through which older users can explore the web and benefit from the opportunities it presents.

Meeting 2: Target Age Group Brainstorm

Having amassed a body of useful information from our first brainstorm, we reconvened to further evaluate the fruits of our labour. On this occasion our meeting wasn't a brainstorm per se, more a focussed discussion based on our original material and that which we had learned from relevant HCI research (see the links on the right of the page for more information).

Although armed with a plethora of potentially viable avenues to pursue, we decided to reconvene at a later date for a second brainstorming session, the aims being to finalise the choice of product and give more consideration to personas...

Meeting 1: Target Age Group Discussion

Having read the relevant introductory literature, exchanged ideas via instant messaging, e-mail and informal chats, we decided to have a meeting during which we would discuss a potential user age group and brainstorm concepts for a product.

We commenced with a discussion of both the under 11 and 60+ age-groups, identifying various issues and attributes unique to each, which we did with a cornerstone of the process firmly in our minds: that the atmosphere was to be one in which we could be uninhibited and free to exchange ideas without fear of judgement.

A member of the group acted as a scribe, noting the 'free-flow' of information as it came. The brainstorming session roughly conformed to the following sequence:

1. Statement of the age group.
2. Statements of problems/needs associated with the age group.
3. Expansion/brainstorming of each problem/need etc.
4. Evaluation of the ideas produced.

Displayed above are the brainstorms for the 11-and-under age group and the 60-and-over age group, respectively. Despite having generated numerous ideas for each group, we opted to pursue concepts for the older generation, simply for the fact that some of the potential products (and associated challenges) we had identified seemed far more compelling to approach.