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Worth-centred mobile phone design for older users

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Abstract

The twenty-first century society fights against an inherent tendency to over-classify and label people. In the case of the aged, despite all efforts, the perception of the helpless, feeble older person still prevails. The truth of the matter is that people over sixty often do not fit this profile. The aged are a heterogeneous group with varying different skills and abilities in many different areas. This paper challenges prevalent mobile phone design decisions that appear to have been made based on the erroneous pre-conception of the incapable elder. Designers currently produce “senior” mobile phones that are, at best, inadequate and, at worst, insulting to a sector of society that deserves respect and consideration. Age does indeed influence mobile phone usage, and people over sixty often have specific and special needs, quite apart from age-related limitations, that predict their use of mobile phones. Most mobile phones designed for older users simply reduce the number of features: the so-called simplification approach. Apart from reducing the effectiveness of the phone, this approach often incorporates the fatal design flaw of using numbers or letters, on speed-dial buttons, which requires the user to remember the button–person mappings. In fact, this design rationale reduces the value of the phone to the user. This paper argues that mobile phone design for older users should be worth-centred (Cockton G in Designing worth is worth designing. In: Proceedings of the 4th Nordic conference on human–computer interaction: changing roles. Oslo, Norway, pp 165–174, 2006) rather than simplification-driven. The worth-centred approach maximises worth to the user of the phone. This is achieved by maximising effectiveness while accommodating reduced capabilities. To maximise ease of use, and consequent accessibility, features may have to be reduced in an informed way. To facilitate this, a mapping process is proposed whereby user needs are linked to uses of the phone, and then to the features that facilitate these uses. Needs fall into a number of categories, and each category is characterised by a number of different uses, which form a usage space. Features can be linked to one or more usage spaces, and thus be used to support needs. The first step in the conducted research entailed the identification of the needs of the older mobile phone user. Then, it was determined whether these needs were indeed being met by the uses afforded in existing phones. Having concluded that most users’ needs were not being met, the next step was to capture data on the needs, limitations and expectations of people over the age of sixty. This was achieved by conducting a series of one-to-one interviews with a number of older mobile phone users and also supervising a participatory design experiment. Using the findings of the analysis, a usage space model is proposed, which serves to align feature inclusion with user needs. Based on this usage space model (the theoretical contribution), a prototype mobile phone design is presented as the practical contribution of the paper.

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Notes

  1. Accessibility can be defined as the extent to which a person can access the available functionality.

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted while Karen Renaud was a guest lecturer at the University of South Africa in Pretoria. We acknowledge the National Research Foundation of South Africa for sponsoring her visit.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

    Karen Renaud

  2. University of South Africa, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

    Judy van Biljon

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Correspondence to Karen Renaud.

Appendix: Interview structure document

Appendix: Interview structure document

Demographic information

1. What is your mother-tongue (first language that you learned to speak)? ………………

2. Are you?

[a] Male

[b] Female

3. How old are you?

[a] 60–69

 

[b] 70–79

 

[c] 80 or older

 

4. How would you describe your general level of computer experience?

[a] None — I have never used a computer

 

[b] Low — I have used a computer belonging to someone else

 

[d] Medium — I own a computer

 

[e] High — I am comfortable using a computer

 

5. Is your phone?

[a] Contract

[b] Pay as you Go

6. Did you?

[a] Buy your phone

[b] It was bought for me

[c] It was passed on by someone else

7. Scenarios presented in questionnaire

  1. 1)

    Jim lives alone. One of his children has emigrated. He is 75 years old and needs to keep in touch. He has decided to get a mobile phone so he can receive pictures and messages. Who should he get advice from before he goes to buy a phone?

  2. 2)

    Leslie is a 75 year old with a mobile phone, which was given to him by his daughter, and he has been using it for 2 years. He now feels confident using it. She has now renewed her contract and wants to give him her old Cell Phone. Do you think he will take it?

  3. 3)

    Pam has had a stroke. She is worried that it will happen again. Do you think she could use her mobile phone in some way to make her feel less vulnerable?

  4. 4)

    Peter, aged 85, needs to take his medication every day at 12 noon and he keeps forgetting. Can his mobile phone help him?

  5. 5)

    Tim likes to travel alone now that he has retired. His family is concerned about him. He says they shouldn’t worry because he has his mobile phone with him. Is he right? What should he do to allay their fears?

8. Tick features that the participant uses and record keys pressed to do so

Alarm

Games

Calculator

Torch

Calendar

Phone with Phone Book (save numbers)

Camera

Phone typing in number

Check missed calls

Photograph album/gallery

SMS

Picture messaging

SMS with predictive text

Personalised ringtones

E-mail

Profiles (change volume, etc.)

Transfer money

Set reminders on calendar

FM radio

Stopwatch

Other?

Features you would like to use

but do not know how to do

Design activity

A paper prototype of a phone (depicted in Fig. 7) together with separate paper buttons with the function names on (listed in Table 4) was presented to the participants. The buttons were randomized for each participant who was then requested to select the six most important functions (as represented by the buttons) and place them onto the phone prototype in the designated space above the menu bar.

Fig. 7
figure 7

Mobile phone prototype presented to participants

Full size image
Table 4 Functions on phone buttons
Full size table

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Renaud, K., van Biljon, J. Worth-centred mobile phone design for older users. Univ Access Inf Soc 9, 387–403 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-009-0177-9

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