Are Notifications a Challenge for Older People?: A Study Comparing Two Types of Notifications

Abstract

Abstract-Elderly users are usually not the target of design of mobile applications, and they may have cognitive and physical difficulties. Mobile notifications may help them remember to use an application, promoting adoption and allowing them to become content providers. We developed a mobile application, QuestionReport, that asks users one question per day, and implemented two types of notifications: one that is activated at the same time each day, and one that is activated while using the smartphone. We tested both notification types with 18 users over a period of 8 days, measuring the time it took to answer the question after receiving the notification and their perceptions about each notification style. We found that the ideal time for users to receive a notification depends on their employment status and that users with low digital skills have less confidence in their abilities to use a mobile application such as QuestionReport.

Older adults’ satisfaction with mHealth UI design-based culture: A case study of Jordan

“…Despite the rapid development in technologies and mobile devices in the world and due to their important roles in users' lives, there is still a lack of efforts to provide best-design experience to older adults (Al-Razgan & Al-Khalifa, 2017;Sibai et al, 2014). The older adults are not the core target of mobile applications and design innovation technology (Rodríguez et al, 2017). The key issue associated with older adult users' use of mobile applications is that mobile phone systems are not well designed to accommodate older adult users' characteristics and capabilities (Hwangbo et al, 2013).…”

“…The key issue associated with elderly users' use of mobile applications is that mobile phone systems are not well designed to accommodate elderly users' characteristics and capabilities (Hwangbo, Yoon, Jin, Han, & Ji, 2013). That is, elderly users are not the main target of design technology and mobile applications (Rodríguez, Fuentes, Herskovic, & Pino, 2017). This is due to that the current design of mHealth technology is for young people.…”