Supporting and sustaining effective use of ICT in later life
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Transcript of Supporting and sustaining effective use of ICT in later life
Supporting and sustaining effective use of ICT in later life
David Sloan@sloandr
20 de Abril 2012Congreso Internacional sobre
Inclusión Digital y AprendizajeMadrid
Overview
• The importance of supporting ICT use by older people
• Difficulties experienced by older ICT users• Best practices in designing for older people• Challenges for digital content providers
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It’s nice to be here!
http://goo.gl/hIIm
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Older ICT users:a significant population!
Population increase in UK – projections for mid 2008-2033Source: Office of National Statistics
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Use of ICT by older people
• 4 million Internet users in UK aged over 65; 1.3 million new users since 2009
• Over-65s “fastest growing Facebook user group”
• 20% of new iPad users are over 55
Figures quoted with reference to original sources in: Getting On - A manifesto for older people in a networked nation (Race
Online 2012)
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Opportunities ICT brings older people
• Mobility Barriers eased• Cost savings• Wellbeing• Independence
From: Getting On - A manifesto for older people in a networked nation (Race Online 2012)
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But – non-use is still an issue• Reasons for Internet non-use amongst retired people in UK
(source Oxford Internet Survey 2011)
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# Never used Gave up using
1 Just not interested Just not interested
2 Do not know how to use Computer no longer available
3 Not for people of my age Not for people of my age
4 Computer no longer available
Never figured it out
5 Too expensive Privacy worries
Profiling typical older ICT users?
Photo credit: Chris Spencer
http://goo.gl/1e8JB
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Age-related factors affecting ICT use
• Chronological age is not a reliable indicator of capability or performance.
• Also consider:– Capability (and related accessibility issues) – Aptitude (technology experience)– Attitude (anxiety, perseverance)
Chisnell and Redish (2004) Designing Web sites for Older Adults: Expert review of Usability for Older adults at
50 web sites.
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Ability and age-related capability change
Capability issues are highly individual and dynamic, in terms of:– The resulting accessibility issue(s) a person may
have– The way in which these issues were acquired– The rate that these issues change in severity– The impact of these issues individually and in
combination
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Age-related capability change
1. Sensory: Vision, Hearing2. Motor: Dexterity3. Cognitive– Fluid intelligence (relating to processing and
reasoning, aptitude for learning, working memory, visual attention)
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Age-related capability change
• Some capabilities are less prone to decline over time:– Crystallised intelligence – knowledge acquired
through learning and life experience– May help explain older people’s relatively high
success levels in ill-defined search tasks
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Attitude and aptitude
Could be affected by:•Current technology– Complexity and change
•Support networks– Availability of help
•Life experience – Education– Technology generations
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Technology generations
Lim (2010) Designing inclusive ICT products for older users: taking into account the technology generation effect
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Designing usable ICT for older people
• Following principles of inclusive design• Lots of guidelines!– From gerontechnology research studies– From usability/human computer interaction
research– From web standards/web accessibility
• Sometimes there’s conflict…
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Some clarity - from W3C WAI-AGE
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http://www.w3.org/WAI/older-users/
Some research and development challenges
• How can we better develop and provide ICT that is sensitive to the needs of an ageing population?
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Special technology? Or raise expectations of usability
• Some commercial ICT products focus on providing “simplified computers”
• But when will YOU decide you need a simplified computer?
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“tout-et-un” Ordissimo tactile 24”
Challenges for user profiling and older ICT users
• Attitude to and awareness of impairments– Self-denial, assumption of others’ perceptions of
one’s capabilities– Result may be rejection of accessibility solutions
• A “Hierarchy of impairments” – means reducing cognitive demand most important?
• Collaborative use of ICT:– Whose accessibility needs are accommodated?
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User-centred ICT research with older people
• Involve older people in ICT policy, research and development activity
• But may need to modify Human-Computer Interaction activities:– Methods– Time, location, study materials– Managing expectations of research outcomes
• Be aware of limits of applying results of a specific study to “older people” in general
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Sustaining ICT use over time
• Strong government focus on “Getting older people online”
• But how do we limit disengagement with and abandonment of ICT by older people?
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Example: SUS-IT project• Developing an adaptation framework to
accommodate dynamic capability change– Giving the right help at the right time
• Approach:1. Monitor user activity2. Identify potential signs of difficulty3. Propose (or automatically apply) relevant adaptations4. Enable undo and redo
http://sus-it.lboro.ac.uk/
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Entertainment? Or saving lives?
• Perceptions of older people on ICT and quality of life – having fun rather than surviving!
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Example: Worthplay project
• 2011-2013 – CSIC funded project between UPF, IIIA-CSIC, Dundee, Agora, Wake Studios
• What makes digital games worth playing by older people?– Ethnographic study of older people as digital game
players– Participatory design, development and evaluation
of a novel digital game
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Innovation in usable interface design
• Taking advantage of the crystallised knowledge of older web users
• User interface paradigms and metaphors that are recognisable and appropriate
• Help and error recovery more tailored to techniques used by older ICT users
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ICT for older people: a tool for social inclusion!
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Summary• Older ICT users are not a homogeneous group– may have accessibility needs – but may not know it or have
the appropriate technology
• Follow inclusive design guidelines…focus on reducing cognitive demand on browsing
• Focus on quality of user experience rather than just “solving accessibility problems”– Involve older people in a user-centered design process
• Look at the opportunities of new ICTs• And remember…
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…we are designing for our future selves!
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Acknowledgments• Sergio Sayago, Alan Newell, Peter Gregor, Paula
Forbes, Anna Dickinson, Vicki Hanson (photos; inspiration, insight from ethnography with older web users)
• The Dundee User Centre – the real experts!• Prof Leela Damodaran and Wendy Olphert (SUS-IT
project )
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GRACIAS!
email: [email protected]: @sloandr
blogs: www.58sound.com --- blog.dundee.ac.uk/eaccessibilitywork: www.dmag.org.uk --- www.computing.dundee.ac.uk
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