User experience with digital television: Aqualitative investigation of young and elderly people

Abstract

This article introduces a qualitative investigation to explore and analyse user experience with digital television and, more generally, with future services made available by broadband Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The investigation is focused on some specific segments of the population where it seemed more interesting to evaluate the effects of change: the elderly and young people. For the segment comprising elderly people, the results show that the impact of the change is very strong. The investigation suggests that the elderly people extensively utilizing new digital television channels are the same as those utilizing their explorative abilities over the Internet (looking for old friends on Facebook or reading online newspapers). For teenagers the impact of the change is minimal. Their readiness to grasp and deal with the unexpected, coupled with a growing distance from television, makes them crucial actors in supporting elderly relatives in need, but also distracted viewers regarding the innovations offered by digital television.