C-TOC Literature Review

• passion model: core activity + connect, cultivate, contribute - model of passions in elderly life
• focus on more than gameplay - cultivating personal growth, contributing to society, connecting people (ensure meaningful play)
• co-design of game concepts for passions and desires of seniors
• UCD in games - non-traditional player group - assessing playability in social games - incorporating ethnography and participatory design
• PD: brainstorm around a conceptual story and passions - co-designed into paper prototype + concept
• less important: playing cards, puzzles, TV
• passions: people, event planning, visiting/travel, dinner, walking, cultivating knowledge, attending guest lectures, reading non-fiction, attending workshops, watching grandchildren, organising and visiting isolated/non-mobile people

• no evidence of technophobia among older users
• more leisure time, disposable income, more independence in recent years (improved elder health)
• familiarity an issue - terminology may have different meanings
• make use of redundancy, accessibility
• clear, simple, forgiving or errors, sympathetic and relevant training

• Abstract: Presents design guidelines for working with older users and concept of mutual inspiration. Discusses value of hand-on activities.

• address the worries and fears of older users, but do not patronise

• communicating with industry - lack of interest - reluctant to consider older users, treated them as homogenous group - no subdivision of the demographic
• HCI/UCD does not address problems for eliciting requirements for ICT for older users; HCI methods focus on req's for specific products / projects, but not when product has not yet been developed
• contacting older users possible through charity orgs, educational establishments, community orgs, sheltered housing, church groups, social clubs, day centres - maintain and extend relationship - personal visits and newsletters
• use carefully worded questionnaires, standardised UCD process
• allow for a focus-group atmosphere (aids in individuals' lack of confidence)
• social workshops - incorporate games, chatting, group interviews

• considering intergenerational context for design
• social isolation, social support + companionship, greater social networks - protective influence against mortality
• decline in mobility - families distant due to economic migration
• fastest growing user group online

• Abstract: Guidleines established by group of senior users HCI experts. Senior-targeted websites reviewed using heuristic evaluation and new guidelines. A review of new guidelines with senior web-users.

• older users using the web more: socialisation, new skill acquisition, special interests, news, personal finances, online companionship, shopping, communicating, assisting the homebound or otherwise disabled
• categories of guidelines: vision, psychomotor, attention, memory and learning, intelligence and expertise
• 38 guidelines under 11 headings: target design, graphics, navigation, browser features, layout of control, links, user cognitive design, colour and background text design, search engine feedback,
• user evaluation of guidelines + website rating
• conclusions: guidelines too general, not specific enough, but nevertheless implications for web developers

• participants want a variety of functions and applications - hardware often frustrating
• by 2050, 21% of population > 60
• "senior-friendly" - decreased sensorimotor skills, reduction in complexity and functionality (oversimplified - appropriate for dementia)
• discourage hasty, single-function, re-purposed solutions
• applications: way-finding, memory aids, keyboard/mouse alternatives
• implications for legibility - macular degeneration a reality
• guided participatory activities - software design (needs analysis, requirements engineering, paper prototypes), needs analysis (mobile phone critiques, scenario-based design)
• critical comments on form factor, interaction styles, aesthetics, undesirable features
• personal organiser and memory aid - develop own phone software / main-menu redesign
• results: function areas: calendar, address book, notebook, how-to-use-this-phone, reminder alarm, games, emergency
• results: hardware: large buttons, screen/text size + brightness, grip, selection mechanism, jog wheel, weight, hearing aid compatibility
• user tests / deployment: placing / receiving calls, notes, calendar, contacts, photographs, voice recorder
• participatory design considerations: provide alternative activities, subgroups to level out individual differences and deficits, minimise cross-talk, participation as an institutional affair, activity structure, speed up / slow down as necessary, blend individual + group sessions
• design considerations: eliminate side/rear buttons, avoid soft keys - form appropriate mental models, home state button, human support networks, several input modalities, avoid modifiers, personal data structures, no slide-out, naming conventions,
• discussion: design for "us" rather than for "me" or "them" - less homogenous
• limitations: may not generalise well, not guidelines but considerations - need more testing, seniors are better critics, hardware design, accessible software, lack of creativity during design (learning rather than creating)
• conclusion: support memory to promote autonomous living

• web applications - 1st source of info: bus schedules, council collections, doctor/hospital appts.
• diversity among older users - variability w/ age - dynamic diversity
• older people ineffective when contributing to new technologies - unaware or possibilities
• design patterns for older users - pattern language - message types: confirmatory / default / explanation
• case study / limitations of guidelines - voice output web browser - mixed mode text + speech - evaluate usefulness of spoken instructions (voice help) - confirmatory messages to build confidence / conceptual models; what is optimal message length?
• guidelines:
  • keep messages as short as possible
  • reduce choice whenever possible
  • use mnemonic letters to indicate key press menu selections
  • insert confirmatory statements whenever possible
• web accessibility exemplifies dilemma inherent in use of guidelines
• task artefact theory + claims / patterns - claims preserve info surrounding a guideline essential elements of good interface in terms of task to be completed, artefact/system or claim based on experiment or theory - encapsulate design knowledge into patterns - describing an element of design + how/why it is used - used together to enhance effectiveness; memory-supporting patterns
• features specially designed to make interaction easier for older people will be useful for everybody - greater universal usability - user sensitive inclusive design
• types of messages: menu choice, confirmatory, default input, context-sensitive help, talk-through, explanation, error recovery, partitioned input

• motivation: increased life expectancy in developed nations: 2021 - 78 M / 83 F, 2050 - 79 M / 84 F
• topics: social inclusion, lifestyle, user group, modelling, system design paradigm, unifying strands in interfaces / applications, age-related impairments, design guidelines, differences from universal design