Anna Dickinson

Early user involvement in the development of information technology-related products for older people

The UTOPIA project (Usable Technology for Older People—Inclusive and Appropriate) is focused on developing effective methods for the early involvement of older people in the development of information technology-related products for people aged 60 and over, and on providing industry with tools to assist in the development of information technology products for such older people. An essential part of this methodology is building a diverse user base, forming a long-lasting partnership with older people, and developing approaches for effective interaction with this target user group. Our experiences with eliciting information from groups of older people about technology is described, together with a report on seminars for Scottish industry designed to raise an awareness of these issues.

Computer use has no demonstrated impact on the well-being of older adults

Technology is frequently presented as a panacea for the support needs of the ageing population, based in part upon the commonly cited assertion that computer and internet use has an empirically verified positive effect on the well-being of older people. In this paper we review the studies that this assertion is based on and conclude that they do not support it. While the original studies rarely make unsupportable claims, the secondary literature which cites them is frequently very misleading; limitations include, failure to distinguish between the effects of training/support and computer use; misattributing causality; inappropriately generalising results from a different population.

Methods for human - computer interaction research with older people

Experimental research in human – computer interaction commonly uses participant groups that are unrepresentative of demographic realities, being young, technically knowledgeable and highly educated. One way of reflecting society more accurately in research is to include older adults in research groups, but the elicitation of high-quality data from these participants requires alterations in research methods and organization. In the present paper, methodological and organizational experiences from a range of research studies with older participants are reported. It concludes with a list of guidelines for maximizing the research outcomes of working with older adults.

Introducing the Internet to the over-60s: Developing an email system for older novice computer users

Contemporary technology offers many benefits to older people, but these are often rendered inaccessible through poor software design. As the Internet increasingly becomes a source of information and services it is vital to ensure that older people can access these resources. As part of project funded by the UK government, a multi-disciplinary team set out to develop usable software that would help to introduce older people to the Internet. The first step was to develop an email system for older people with no experience of Internet use. The project was intended to show that it is possible to design usable technology for this group and to explore some of the issues involved in doing so. Design and technical challenges necessitated various tradeoffs. The system produced demonstrated the success of the design decisions: it was significantly easier to use than, and preferred to, a commercial equivalent by a group of older people with no experience of Internet use.

Designing a portal for older users: A case study of an industrial/academic collaboration

A multidisciplinary team from industry, government, and academia developed prototype email, Web search, and navigation systems for users over 60 years old who were inexperienced in using computers and had never used the Internet. The academics encountered problems in persuading other team members of the specific challenges of designing for and working with older people. A number of ways of overcoming such challenges were implemented, and the final “radically simple” systems evaluated by a team of older people. The collaboration highlighted the conflicting pressures of the commercial world and the time and patience needed to design for older users.

Keeping In Touch: Talking to Older People about Computers and Communication

Computer-based communication has tremendous potential to support older adults. But if people are to use such systems autonomously, it is necessary to move beyond current interfaces and systems and develop devices that fit into the environment of the user. Using a Grounded Theory approach, three focus groups were held and, subsequently, 9 older adults (age 70–90) were interviewed about the ways in which they kept in touch with friends and relatives. Outcomes included dependence on the telephone as a way of communicating. There is also a specific, supporting role for e-mail, which was used with younger family members or those living abroad to enrich communication with brief, informal messages.

Are guidelines enough?: an introduction to designing web sites accessible to older people

As the Web becomes more integral to day-to-day life, there is a danger that many older people will be excluded if their access needs are not considered by content designers. Although accessibility guidelines for designers are available, experience shows that these guidelines have not been successful enough in producing Web sites accessible to older people. In this paper, the shortcomings of relying solely on accessibility guidelines are reviewed, and several ideas are proposed for encouraging a more holistic approach to accessibility.

SeeWord—a personal word processing environment for dyslexic computer users

See Word is a highly configurable word processing environment, which assists dyslexic users when producing and reading text. The software was developed using a user-centred development cycle where user feedback contributed to each revision. Evaluations showed that users were able to find individualised combinations of settings using the specialised software, which they used in preference to the black-on-white text that is usually displayed on computer monitors. Three separate prototypes of the software were developed and evaluated. The third prototype was used in an experimental study with 6 dyslexic school pupils. The research showed that 5 out of the 6 dyslexic users aged 14-16 years benefited from the use of specialised software when reading text from a computer screen. Participants were able to read standard texts from a screen significantly more accurately with the aid of SeeWord. All participants reported that they felt they could read text from the screen better using the software. The results suggest that a larger scale evaluation of the software would provide valuable information about problems associated with computer use by people with dyslexia. A further study into the visual processes involved in dyslexia would also be of great value.

Strategies for teaching older people to use the World Wide Web

Information is increasingly displayed digitally, yet less than half of the population of the UK use the Internet. Older people are especially unlikely to be Internet users and the consequent risks of digital exclusion must be addressed. A training course in computers and web use for older adults took place at the University of Dundee, with 15 participants. The course approach was to simplify application interfaces and to ensure that basic skills were learnt before more complicated tasks were presented. As part of this process, there was a focus on learning to use the computer before learners were introduced to the web with its wide variety of content. The course outcomes were positive and the authors report them here in order to reflect upon the experience and help others who set out to provide training for older people in web use.

Interface metaphor design and instant messaging for older adults

Instant Messaging is currently not widely adopted among older computer users. An investigation has therefore been conducted into the use of Instant Messaging by older computer novices, with particular emphasis on the use of an alternative metaphor in the user interface to try to produce a more usable and acceptable solution for older adults. Two messenger interfaces (a traditional one and an experimental alternative) were designed for the study and compared in use by older computer novices, through measurement and participant interview. Results showed that the alternative metaphor interface performed better overall and that the majority of the participants preferred it for future use.