Kathryn Summers

Starting an intergenerational technology design team: a case study

This paper presents a case study of the first three months of a new intergenerational design team with children ages 10--13. It discusses the research and design methods used for working with children of this age group, the challenges and opportunities of starting a new team, and the lessons learned.

Reading and navigational strategies of Web users with lower literacy skills

About half of the adults in the U.S. read at the 8th grade level or below (Kirsch, Junegeblut, Jenkins, & Kolstad, 1993). Yet most websites are written at the 10th grade level or higher. The goal of this two-year study, sponsored by Pfizer, was twofold: 1) to understand the differences between the reading and navigational strategies of users with medium to high literacy skills and those with lower literacy skills; 2) to learn how to make web-based medical content usable and accessible for lower-literacy adults, and to develop design principles that could be used to design websites that would meet the needs of both higher and lower literacy users.

Designing Web-based Forms for Users with Lower Literacy Skills

Previous research (Summers & Summers, 2003) has identified patterns of behavior and effective practices related to how lower literacy users interact with health-related Internet sites. However, prior research has not addressed how such users react to the unique challenges represented by interactive medical forms on health sites, such as interactive health quizzes, questionnaires, and registration forms. The goal of this four-month study was twofold: 1) to identify reading, writing, and navigational strategies of users with lower literacy skills when interacting with web-based forms in a medical context; 2) to develop design principles for making such web-based medical forms usable and accessible for lower-literacy adults. Eyetracking was used to gather data about how users interacted with a variety of web-based forms. Analysis of sessions with 26 low-literacy users (REALM score < 60) identified a variety of challenges users faced in completing forms. Based on these observations, proposed principles of effective form design were developed. Revised prototype forms were designed in accordance with these principles and iteratively tested with 14 users to verify improved usability.

Password creation strategies across high- and low-literacy web users

Research has shown that password security practices typically conflict with general usability principles. Though the challenges faced by low‐literacy users when creating and managing passwords are likely to extend beyond those experienced by the general public, little research has been done to explore password usability in this at‐risk group. This survey of 20 low‐literacy participants aims to examine password behaviors within this population, including password creation, recall strategies, and perceptions of password strength and security. It expands on the work of Chisnell and Newby ( ) based on a nationwide survey exploring password use, password creation strategies, and perceptions regarding password security. Thus, this study allows for comparison between password use and perceptions among the broader population and those of users with low literacy skills. These results provide important insights into patterns of use and mental models of password requirements and password security among low‐literacy users.

Using eye-tracking and form completion data to optimize form instructions

Reading and effectively following instructions on forms is a critical part of daily living. We all encounter forms (and instructions) in almost every facet of life, ranging from education (homework, tests, and applications), to work (employment forms or benefits forms), to life (tax forms, immigration forms, voter registration forms, government benefits forms, etc.). However, published research provides little behavioral insight specific to effectively designing form instructions. To wit, it suggests that users do not read instructions. Design manuals do offer some insights into form design; however, their suggestions tend to be trite and based on maintaining the status quo of form design. Our research will offer form designers an empirically substantiated preliminary set of concrete guidelines to optimize the design and presentation of instructions on complex forms, thus increasing the likelihood that both at-risk and expert users will notice and read critical instructions.

The Importance of Choice Design for Low Literate User Experience

This research addresses a significant gap in our understanding of low literate behavior in online search. We explore how both low- and high-literate online consumers make decisions at the point of purchase in an online shopping task. We measured percentage fixation duration of AOIs during decision-making on four search engine results page (SERP) tasks. Qualitative and quantitative results combined suggest that tabular SERP may contribute to the success of low literate consumers making sophisticated trade-off decisions. Furthermore, we propose that tabular SERP choice design may improve low literate user experience for more general SERP choice design.

The Impact of Literacy on Usable and Accessible Electronic Voting

Electronic voting interfaces present particular challenges for voters with low literacy. Research has found that individuals with low literacy typically encounter problems in electronic interfaces related to their tendencies to read every word, act on every word, interpret words literally, skip text, become distracted, and stop reading too soon. Based on a growing body of research about the experiences of low-literacy voters in electronic interfaces, this paper presents eleven principles to address these challenges. It also translates those principles into specific best practice recommendations related to language, navigation, visual design, and interaction in electronic voting interfaces.

Low Literacy Users

A discussion of low literacy users and how eye tracking can help researchers to better understand this unique audience group is contained in this chapter. It further discusses the implications of low literacy on user experience design and how to include people with low literacy skills in usability studies.

Design to read: designing for people who do not read easily

Many people do not read easily. They may have an impairment such as a visual problem. They may be reading in stressful conditions or poor light, or perhaps they are reading in a second language. Is it possible to provide one consistent set of guidelines or approaches that will allow designers of electronic materials to meet all the apparently diverse needs of these people? Or are there compromises to be made? If so, what are those compromises?

Bridging the Digital Divide: One Smartphone at a Time

Growing use of smartphones among low-literacy/low-income urban populations is increasing access to the internet for this group, a group that has been historically disadvantaged in terms of internet access. This digital divide has had enormous historical importance and many negative practical effects on health, income, civic participation, and education [1, 2, 3, 4]. While providing internet access through libraries made the internet available to many people, library-based access to the internet did not guarantee its use (i.e., penetration). Now that the rise of smart phones [5] is finally narrowing the access gap, we need to understand how adults with low literacy/low income are using smart phones. What are their assumptions about the internet? What do they value? What barriers to successful use persist?