research-article

“I knew that, I was just testing you”: Understanding Older Adults’ Impression Management Tactics During Usability Studies

Authors:

Rachel L. Franz,

Khai N. TruongAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS), Volume 11, Issue 3

Article No.: 15, Pages 1 - 23

https://doi.org/10.1145/3226115

Published: 05 September 2018 Publication History

Abstract

Research has shown that participants often engage in impression management (IM) to present themselves in a favorable way, out of desire to increase self-esteem or enhance how others perceive them. This tendency has also been shown to affect the validity and reliability of studies. Yet, little is known about how older adults’ IM efforts influence the process of usability studies, even though the literature suggests that individuals perform more IM as they age, possibly to avoid negative stereotypes of ageing. Through a mixed-methods approach, we conducted two exploratory usability studies with older adults (65+). We found that participants performed a range of IM tactics including supplication (i.e., portraying oneself as weak or dependent to obtain help) and exemplification (i.e., doing more than is necessary). We discuss how IM tactics influence the study and define strategies to manage them.

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Ng RIndran N(2023)Granfluencers on TikTok: Factors linked to positive self-portrayals of older adults on social mediaPLOS ONE10.1371/journal.pone.028028118:2(e0280281)Online publication date: 7-Feb-2023
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Yong SHung MYuan CChiu CHuang MYou C(2023)Mind and Body: The Complex Role of Social Resources in Understanding and Managing Depression in Older AdultsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35795077:CSCW1(1-25)Online publication date: 16-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3579507
Saad MZia ARaza MKundi MHaleem M(2022)A Comprehensive Analysis of Healthcare Websites Usability Features, Testing Techniques and IssuesIEEE Access10.1109/ACCESS.2022.319337810(97701-97718)Online publication date: 2022
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Index Terms

“I knew that, I was just testing you”: Understanding Older Adults’ Impression Management Tactics During Usability Studies
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. HCI design and evaluation methods
      1. Usability testing
2. Social and professional topics
  1. User characteristics
    1. Age
      1. Seniors

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing Volume 11, Issue 3

Special Issue on Fabrication Technologies and Do-It-Yourself Accessibility and Regular Papers

September 2018

156 pages

ISSN:1936-7228

EISSN:1936-7236

DOI:10.1145/3271479

Editors:
Matt Huenerfauth
Rochester Institute of Technology, USA
,
Kathleen F. McCoy
University of Delaware, USA

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Copyright © 2018 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 05 September 2018

Accepted: 01 May 2018

Revised: 01 April 2018

Received: 01 October 2017

Published in TACCESS Volume 11, Issue 3

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Cited By

Ng RIndran N(2023)Granfluencers on TikTok: Factors linked to positive self-portrayals of older adults on social mediaPLOS ONE10.1371/journal.pone.028028118:2(e0280281)Online publication date: 7-Feb-2023
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280281
Yong SHung MYuan CChiu CHuang MYou C(2023)Mind and Body: The Complex Role of Social Resources in Understanding and Managing Depression in Older AdultsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35795077:CSCW1(1-25)Online publication date: 16-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3579507
Saad MZia ARaza MKundi MHaleem M(2022)A Comprehensive Analysis of Healthcare Websites Usability Features, Testing Techniques and IssuesIEEE Access10.1109/ACCESS.2022.319337810(97701-97718)Online publication date: 2022
https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3193378
Wood RDixon EElsayed-Ali SShokeen ELazar ALazar J(2021)Investigating Best Practices for Remote Summative Usability Testing with People with Mild to Moderate DementiaACM Transactions on Accessible Computing10.1145/346094214:3(1-26)Online publication date: 21-Jul-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3460942
Acosta CPalacio RBorrego GGarcía RRodríguez M(2021)Design guidelines and usability for cognitive stimulation through technology in Mexican older adultsInformatics for Health and Social Care10.1080/17538157.2021.1941973(1-17)Online publication date: 23-Jun-2021
https://doi.org/10.1080/17538157.2021.1941973
Róin TPetersen MRóin Á(2021)Managing a positive impression: Self-presentation among octogenariansJournal of Aging Studies10.1016/j.jaging.2021.10096859(100968)Online publication date: Dec-2021
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2021.100968
Franz RFindlater LBarbosa Neves BWobbrock JBigham JAzenkot SKane S(2019)Gender and Help Seeking by Older Adults When Learning New TechnologiesProceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3308561.3353807(136-142)Online publication date: 24-Oct-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3308561.3353807
Franz RNeves B(2019)Usability Is Ageless: Conducting Usability Tests with Older AdultsAgeing and Digital Technology10.1007/978-981-13-3693-5_7(99-114)Online publication date: 9-Jan-2019
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3693-5_7

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