Older Adults and Computer Usage:

Common Activities and Essential Applications

Melissa Wong, Kristal Chan, Niti Madhugiri, Shengdong Zhao

NUS-HCI Lab, Computer ScienceNational University of Singapore

Background: Aging Society

Age 65+ in Singapore

2000 : 7%

2030 : 19%

World Singapore

Computers and older adults• Global aging population changed the

landscape of information technology industry– Existing older adults increasingly expose to IT

• Older adults are now the fastest growing population of computer buyers and Internet users 1, 2

– As we grow up, future older adults will become IT savvy

1. Becker, S. A. (2005). E-Government usability for older adults. Communications of the ACM, 48(2), 102–104.

2. Hart, T., Chaparro, B., & Halcomb, C. (2008). Evaluating websites for older adults: Adherence to senior-friendly guidelines and end-user performance. Behaviour & Information Technology, 27(3), 191–199.

Motivations• Older adults have different needs and

concerns• Current interfaces which are mostly

designed for younger users and are too complex for older adults 1

• Majority of the functionalities are not needed or used

1. Massimi, M., R.M. Baecker, and M. Wu, Using participatory activities with seniors to critique, build, and evaluate mobile phones. ACM SIGACCESS 2007, ACM: 155-162

Motivation• Question:

• Not much has been discussed about the use of specific applications for activities that they do 1

1. Goodman, J.,Syme, A., Eisma, R. (2003). Older adults’ use of computers: A survey. HCI Sept 2003, Bath, Uk.

Simple Interface for older adults

???

What essential applications and

functionalities should it support?

We are interested to find out the essential needs of older adults in computer usage, and how such needs are reflected in the type of computing activities carried out as well as the most common computer applications being used.

Interview

Participants• 8 computer literate participants (5 male, 3

female, age range 51-73, M: 64.5, SD: 7.89)

Format• Semi-structured interview• Questions covered:

– Experience with learning and using of computers

– Type of computing activities and motivations such activities

Results

Computer usage

Emails

Online banking

Internet search

Document processing

Connecting with family/friends

Online reservations and ticketing

Entertainment

Analysis

Information seeking• Internet search• Browsers• News

Analysis

Information seeking• Internet search• Browsers• News

Communication• Email• Video calls• Social networking

sites

Analysis

Information seeking• Internet search• Browsers• News

Communication• Email• Video calls• Social networking

sites

Productivity• Microsoft Office• Online transactions• Photo management

Analysis

Information seeking• Internet search• Browsers• News

Communication• Email• Video calls• Social networking

sites

Productivity• Microsoft Office• Online transactions• Photo management

Entertainment • Video channels• Games

Take-away & Implications• The essential interface for older adults should

probably only include the above functionalities• Make the interface consistent

– Changes made to interfaces should be handled carefully as older adults may not adapt effectively

Q & A

For more information• http://hci.comp.nus.edu.sg• http

://www.shengdongzhao.com/shen-publications/