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Research on the Age-Appropriate Design of Mobile Phone APPs Based on the Experience of Using Smartphones for Chinese Young-Old

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Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Design, Interaction and Technology Acceptance (HCII 2022)

Abstract

With the development of “intelligent” society, smart terminals have been used in many occasions of daily life. Smart phones have become an extension of people, which is an indispensable medium that people connect with each other and the society. Currently, among the 274 million elderly mobile phone users in China, 134 million are elderly smartphone users. Nearly 140 million seniors are connected to the Internet through smartphones. Through an online questionnaire survey on smartphone use experience for young-old, this paper attempts to investigate the actual needs and difficulties of young-old in the use of smartphones, and the preference of this group for the age-appropriate design of mobile phones. Based on the 500 valid samples of the survey, we found that the young-old tend to actively learn the use of mobile phones, but the current smartphone APPs does not take into account the special need of the young-old, and the adaptability of the touch-screen experience. We suggest that it’s necessary to consider the need of the old users in terms of functions, interfaces, menu settings, so as to improve the willingness of the old to use mobile APPS and improve the effect of human-computer interaction.

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The research is supported by the 2022 Hunan social science achievement evaluation committee Research Program (Project No.: XSP22YBZ016).

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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yanghao Ye .

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Appendix

Appendix

A Survey on Smartphone Usage Experience of Young-Old

Hello, thank you very much for filling out this questionnaire! We are the research team of the School of Design and Art of Changsha University of Science and Technology. Please rest assured that the anonymous information obtained in this questionnaire is for research and statistical purposes only. There is no standard answer to the following questions, please fill in the truth, thank you for your support and cooperation!

  1. 1.

    This questionnaire is filled out by () ?(radio)

  2. A.

    Myself

  3. B.

    Fill in on behalf of my family

  4. 2.

    What is your gender?(radio)

  5. A.

    Male

  6. B.

    Female

  7. 3.

    What is your age?(radio)

  8. A.

    50–55 years old

  9. B.

    55–60 years old

  10. C.

    60–65 years old

  11. D.

    65–70 years old

  12. 4.

    What is your education level?(radio)

  13. A.

    Illiterate

  14. B.

    Elementary school and below

  15. C.

    Junior high school

  16. D.

    Secondary school high school

  17. E.

    College

  18. F.

    Bachelor degree and above

  19. 5.

    What is your current residence status?(radio)

  20. A.

    Living alone

  21. B.

    Elderly couple living together

  22. C.

    Living with children

  23. D.

    Other

  24. 6.

    How is your smartphone usage?(radio)

  25. A.

    Can use, and be familiar with

  26. B.

    Can use, know how to use a few software

  27. C.

    Only a little basic operation of calling and sending messages

  28. D.

    Not very good at, just know how to start the smartphone

  29. E.

    I don't know how to use

  30. F.

    No cell phone

  31. 7.

    Why do you want to learn about smartphones? (Optional)

  32. A.

    I like to accept new things

  33. B.

    Influenced by the people around me

  34. C.

    Life needs

  35. D.

    Life is too boring, want to find some fun

  36. 8.

    How did you learn about smartphones?(Optional)

  37. A.

    Sons and daughters’ teaching

  38. B.

    Grandchildren’s teaching

  39. C.

    Friends and neighbors’ teaching

  40. D.

    Self-taught through senior college and reading

  41. E.

    Self-learning through the smartphone's own teaching skills

  42. 9.

    What is your smartphone generally used for?(Optional)

  43. A.

    Contact others

  44. B.

    Take photos or short videos

  45. C.

    Listen to music, watch news and short videos

  46. D.

    Internet consultation

  47. E.

    Online shopping

  48. F.

    Play games to relax (such as matchmaking)

  49. 10.

    The main way you get mobile software is()(radio)

  50. A.

    System's own application store

  51. B.

    Third-party application store

  52. C.

    Search through Baidu, etc.

  53. D.

    Not clear

  54. 11.

    How much software do you have in your smartphone now?(radio)

  55. A.

    5 or less

  56. B.

    5–10

  57. C.

    10–15

  58. D.

    15 or more

  59. 12.

    For you, what has been your experience with your smartphone? (radio)

  60. A.

    Get information

  61. B.

    Communication platform

  62. C.

    Easy to contact

  63. D.

    Leisure and relaxation

  64. E.

    Successfully catch up with fashion

  65. 13.

    During the process of using your smartphone, have you encountered () difficulties or problems with your smartphone. (Optional)

  66. A.

    Uncomfortable color graphics and text

  67. B.

    Complicated software operation

  68. C.

    Too many software

  69. D.

    Phone freezes and no respond

  70. E.

    Others

  71. 14.

    The biggest problem you face while using your smartphone is?(Optional)

  72. A.

    Health problems, such as blurred vision, decreased limb flexibility, etc.

  73. B.

    Knowledge problems, such as inability to discern the content of a pop-up prompt box, etc.

  74. C.

    Cost issues, smartphones and their associated costs.

  75. D.

    Environmental issues, less information specific to the elderly.

  76. E.

    Security issues, unfamiliar with software functions, worry about property safety, etc.

  77. 15.

    If the new function is easy to use, what you want most is the () function.(radio)

  78. A.

    Have a communication and interaction circle.

  79. B.

    Have direct contact

  80. C.

    Provide door-to-door service

  81. D.

    Guided by an operating assistant

  82. E.

    Others

  83. 16.

    Which smartphone features do you prefer?(radio)

  84. A.

    Simple interface

  85. B.

    Big icon design

  86. C.

    Simple color

  87. D.

    Handwriting input

  88. E.

    One-touch call

  89. F.

    Voice broadcast interface

  90. G.

    Smart robot answer

  91. H.

    Others

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Xiao, Y., Ye, Y., Liu, Y. (2022). Research on the Age-Appropriate Design of Mobile Phone APPs Based on the Experience of Using Smartphones for Chinese Young-Old. In: Gao, Q., Zhou, J. (eds) Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Design, Interaction and Technology Acceptance. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13330. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05581-2_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05581-2_19

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-05580-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-05581-2

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