Touchscreen Smartphone User Interfaces for Older Adults
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Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal Volume 4 Issue 2 Article 7 July 2017 Touchscreen Smartphone User Interfaces for Older Adults Ai Sano University of Minnesota, Morris Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/horizons Part of the Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces Commons Recommended Citation Sano, Ai (2017) "Touchscreen Smartphone User Interfaces for Older Adults," Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal: Vol. 4 : Iss. 2 , Article 7. Available at: https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/horizons/vol4/iss2/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well. It has been accepted for inclusion in Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal by an authorized editor of University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Touchscreen Smartphone User Interfaces for Older Adults Cover Page Footnote This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/ 4.0/. UMM CSci Senior Seminar Conference, April 2017 Morris, MN. This article is available in Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal: https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/horizons/vol4/iss2/7 Sano: Touchscreen Smartphone User Interfaces for Older Adults Touchscreen Smartphone User Interfaces for Older Adults Ai Sano Division of Science and Mathematics University of Minnesota, Morris Morris, Minnesota, USA 56267 [email protected] ABSTRACT physical and cognitive abilities [6]. With these age-related Today the world is experiencing the rapid growth of the older changes, we most likely have a harder time interacting with population. The number of older adults who own digital de- smartphones efficiently and effectively. For smartphones to vices such as smartphones is increasing as well. The current be more accessible and usable for older adults, these phys- smartphone user interfaces, however, appear not optimized ical and cognitive changes need to be well considered when for older adults. When designing smartphone user interfaces smartphone UIs are designed. for older adults, we must consider their age-related physical The present paper is divided into four sections. In Section and cognitive changes, which most likely affect their user 2, we provide background on older adults, more specifically experience. The present paper explores smartphone user their age-related physical and cognitive changes and their interface guidelines for older adults and heuristics for evalu- mobile phone usage. In Section 3, we focus on touchscreen ating the usability of Android launchers for older adults as smartphone UI guidelines for older adults and a heuristic well as a research study that developed an Android launcher evaluation of touchscreen smartphone usability for older adu- for older adults. lts. In Section 4, we explore a research study that designed and evaluated touchscreen smartphone UIs for older adults. Keywords 2. BACKGROUND Smartphone, touchscreen, older adults, user interface, An- To discuss optimal smartphone UIs for older adults, we droid launcher should learn about older adults and their mobile phone us- age. In this section, we first study common age-related phys- 1. INTRODUCTION ical and cognitive changes in older adults, which are likely to Today the world is experiencing the rapid growth of the affect their usage of mobile phones. Next, we discuss older older population | people 65 years or older. Such growth adults' needs for mobile phones. Lastly, we go over current appears more noticeable in developed nations due to low mobile phone options that could provide older adults with fertility and mortality rates [9]. In the U.S., the older pop- better accessibility and usability. ulation numbered 43.15 million in 2012, which was 13.7% of the entire population of 313.91 million [10]. The older pop- 2.1 Age-related physical and cognitive chan- ulation in the U.S. is projected to increase to 79.72 million ges in older adults or 21.0% of the total population of 380.01 million by 2040. Based on a large variety of research studies, Johnson and The first generation of iPhone and the first commercial Finn [6] introduced UI guidelines for computer and informa- Android smartphones were introduced in 2007 and 2008 re- tion technologies that are inclusive of websites, desktop and spectively. Since then, a large number of people have shifted mobile applications, and digital appliances for older adults. to smartphones from other types of mobile phones. In 2011, In their book, Johnson and Finn also described age-related merely 35% of American adults had smartphones [4]. The changes that are likely to affect our user experience with percentage had risen to 77% in 2016 [5]. When we look at the such technologies. In this section, we present some of those number of smartphone owners by age, 11% of older adults age-related changes from their book, that appear to impact had smartphones in 2011, and the percentage had increased especially mobile phone user experience. to 42% in 2016. Though the growth rate is smaller for older Vision. With age, we experience changes in our vision. adults than the entire population, we still see a relatively Our ability to see fine details declines. Though visual acuity large increase in smartphone usage among older adults. begins to decline after our early twenties, it typically declines Despite such growth in smartphone ownership among older at a faster pace for those above 50 years old. The decline adults, user interfaces (UIs) of smartphones that are cur- in visual acuity makes it difficult for us to see information rently on the market appear not optimized for older adults on displays and hit the intended targets. For example, small [3]. As people grow older, we experience a decline in our text fonts reduce reading speed in everyone, but to a greater extent in older adults than in younger ones. [6] Our eyes take in and register a smaller amount of light at This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- an older age. The reduced amount of light intake causes us NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/. to require brighter light to see and read well. For example, UMM CSci Senior Seminar Conference, April 2017 Morris, MN. an average 60-year-old needs three times more light than a Published by University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well, 2017 1 Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal, Vol. 4, Iss. 2 [2017], Art. 7 20-year-old to perceive the same subjective brightness. In The study was implemented via online survey with 118 addition, older adults experience yellowing vision, which is respondents of three different age groups: 50-59 year olds, caused by the lens of our eyes turning slightly yellow. Col- 60-69 years olds, and 70+ years olds [3]. Below we present ors would appear tinted toward yellow to individuals with the results of their study to gain knowledge of older adults' yellowing vision, making certain pairs of colors harder to dis- needs for mobile phones. tinguish, particularly greens, blues, and violets. Many older Meaning of mobile phone. The vast majority of re- adults also experience a decline in contrast sensitivity. As spondents across all age groups considered the purpose of a result, it becomes hard for older adults to see information having a mobile phone to stay connected with their family that poorly contrasts with its background. [6] and friends easily. About one third of respondents across all Motor control. Growing older, we are able to move our age groups own a mobile phone also to feel a sense of security, arms, hands, and fingers less precisely than when we are to call an ambulance, and to stay technically up-to-date. [3] young. Most of us typically experience this decline after the Phone usage. The most frequently used features among age of 50. Due to this change, we are likely to have a harder respondents were voice call and short message service (SMS) time with grasping and manipulating small objects and exe- followed by camera and alarm clock across all age groups. cuting multi-finger gestures such as pinch and spread, which Though the frequency of use was not as high as the above are often required on touch-screen devices. [6] features and varied among different age groups, respondents Hearing. Getting old causes us to lose our hearing grad- also used features such as music applications, emails, flash ually. Hearing loss typically starts in our late 20s. By age light, and the Internet. [3] 45-59, about 10% of people experience age-related hearing Use of advanced features. The majority of respon- loss that is significant enough to affect interactions with oth- dents felt that their phones had more features than they ers. By age 60-65, the percentage is 33% and by age 75-80 could use. About half the respondents agreed that they it rises up to 55%. Symptoms of age-related hearing loss did not understand some of the features on their phones. include reduced ability to hear low-volume sounds, declined Nonetheless, the majority of respondents across all age grou- sensitivity to high-frequency sounds, and decreased ability ps disagreed that advanced features should be hidden. [3] to filter out background noise. Due to these changes, older Accessibility issues. Approximately half the respon- adults tend to have difficulty hearing alert sounds such as dents have difficulty seeing what is shown on a display. With ring tones, understanding artificial speech, and discerning SMS (i.e., one of the most frequently used features) in partic- the direction or source of sounds.