Sri Kurniawan

Older people and mobile phones: A multi-method investigation

This paper investigates issues related to the use of mobile phones by people aged 60 years and over and characteristics of an ageing-friendly mobile phone. This study combines qualitative and quantitative analysis methods of Delphi interviews, focus group discussions, and online survey. The expert interviews and the focus group discussions covered usage patterns, problems, benefits, and desired and unwanted features. The issues raised in the discussions were translated into an online survey of 100 people. This study revealed that older people are passive users of mobile phones, that they experience fear of consequences of using unfamiliar technology, and that most preferred design features are aids for declining functional abilities. Gender differences in preferred design features were observed, with women focusing on haptic aids and men on perceptual aids.

Increasing the Usability of Online Information for Older Users: A Case Study in Participatory Design

This article describes one of the first documented participatory design (PD) efforts specifically aimed at older users. The goal of the project was to make an existing World Wide Web (WWW) site more user-friendly for older users, specifically in terms of display format issues. A PD team was assembled from a group of community-dwelling older adults and developers from a university research lab. After the developers established the trust and confidence of the participants and developed a conceptual user model (based on a survey and previous literature), the PD team evaluated the original design. Prototypes were iteratively developed and tested by the PD team to improve problems found in the original design. Specific design improvements and general design guidelines for older WWW users are discussed.

Research-derived web design guidelines for older people

This paper presents the development of a set of research-derived ageing-centred Web design guidelines. An initial set of guidelines was first developed through an extensive review of the HCI and ageing literature and through employing a series of classification methods (card sorting and affinity diagrams) were employed as a means for obtaining a revised and more robust set of guidelines. A group of older Web users were then involved in evaluating the usefulness of the guidelines. To provide evaluation context for these users, two websites targeted to older people were used. This study makes several contributions to the field. First, it is perhaps the first manuscript that proposes ageing-friendly guidelines that are for most part backed by published studies. Second, the guidelines proposed in this study have been thoroughly examined through a series of expert and user verifications, which should give users of these guidelines confidence of their validity.

A study of the use of mobile phones by older persons

This paper reports on issues related to the use of mobile phones by older people. This study uses triangulation, a mixed method of qualitative (focus group discussions) and quantitative (online questionnaire) approaches. Usage patterns, problems, perceived benefits and desired and unwanted features were covered in this study.

Personalising web page presentation for older people

This paper looks at different ways of personalising web page presentation to alleviate functional impairments in older people. The paper considers how impairments may be addressed by web design and through various personalisation instruments: accessibility features of standard browsers, proxy servers, assistive technology, application adaptors, and special purpose browsers. A pilot study of five older web users indicated that the most favoured personalisation technique was overriding the CSS (cascading style sheet) with a readily available one using a standard browser. The least favoured one was using assistive technology. In a follow-up study with 16 older web users, performing goal-directed browsing tasks, overriding CSS remains the most favoured. Assistive technology remains the least favoured and the slowest. Based on user comments, one-take-home message for web personalisation instrument developer is that the best instrument for older persons is one that most faithfully preserves the original layout while requiring the least effort.

A systematic approach to the development of research-based web design guidelines for older people

This paper presents a systematic approach to the development of a set of research-based ageing-centred web design guidelines (SilverWeb Guidelines). The approach included an initial extensive literature review in the area of human–computer interaction and ageing, the development of an initial set of guidelines based on the reviewed literature, a card sorting exercise for their classification, an affinity diagramming exercise for the reduction and further finalisation of the guidelines, and finally a set of heuristic evaluations for the validation and test of robustness of the guidelines. The 38 final guidelines are grouped into eleven distinct categories (target design, use of graphics, navigation, browser window features, content layout design, links, user cognitive design, use of colour and background, text design, search engine, user feedback and support).

Mobile system to motivate teenagers' physical activity

This paper reports a mobile persuasive application to motivate teenagers to start and continue being physically active. Being physically active can lead to reduced risks of having weight and cardiovascular problems; however efforts in this direction had variable success. Designing technology that will be engaging and motivating for teenagers requires an understanding of the factors that contribute to behavior adoption in teenagers. To understand these, we approach the design from several theoretical models: Theory of Planned Behavior, Theory of Meaning Behavior, and Personality Theory. We found that 1) Personality traits affect perceptions on physical activities and the usefulness of devices that motivate them; 2) Favored motivational phrases are universal across traits; 3) Those who tried our prototype was generally positive and stated that they would use it on their own; 5) The characteristics of games that are desired are: social or competitive, outdoor, simple to learn and with large variations.

A method and advisor tool for multimedia user interface design

This paper describes a multimedia user interface design method and a design assistant tool which supports the method. The method covers specification of user requirements and information architecture, selection of appropriate media to represent the information content, design for directing attention to important information and interaction design to enhance user engagement. Guidelines for media selection and design for attractiveness, i.e. usability and user experience, are given. The method was evaluated in a case study design of a crowd control simulation training system, which demonstrated the method was usable and gave good solutions against an expert gold standard design. The tool provides advice on media selection and attention effects that match specification of the information content expressed as information types and communication goals. A usability evaluation was carried out to measure the usefulness and effectiveness of the tool in comparison to the method, and the results showed that the tool has a positive impact on multimedia design.

Non-speech input and speech recognition for real-time control of computer games

This paper reports a comparison of user performance (time and accuracy) when controlling a popular arcade game of Tetris using speech recognition or non-speech (humming) input techniques. The preliminary qualitative study with seven participants shows that users were able to control the game using both methods but required more training and feedback for the humming control. The revised interface, which implemented these requirements, was positively responded by users. The quantitative test with 12 other participants shows that humming excelled in both time and accuracy, especially over longer distances and advanced difficulty levels.

Mobile phone design for older persons

Just like computers and the Internet, mobile phones are becoming common personal items for older persons. In early 2006, 60 percent of people aged 65 to 74 years and 36 percent of people aged 75 years and over owned and used mobile phones in the UK [1]. Actually, older people have a much higher adoption rate of mobile phones than of Internet usage [2]. Many older persons use mobile phones in both leisure and work contexts.