Investigating Usability Metrics for the Design and Development of Applications for the Elderly

  • Authors:

  • Andreas Holzinger;Gig Searle;Thomas Kleinberger;Ahmed Seffah;Homa Javahery

  • Affiliations:

  • Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics & Documentation (IMI) Research Unit HCI4MED, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria A-8036;Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics & Documentation (IMI) Research Unit HCI4MED, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria A-8036;Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE), , Kaiserslautern, Germany 67663;Human-Centered Software Engineering Group, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada H3G 1M8;Human-Centered Software Engineering Group, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada H3G 1M8

  • Venue:
  • ICCHP '08 Proceedings of the 11th international conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs
  • Year:
  • 2008

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Abstract

Metrics-based benchmarks are crucial for measuring usability, particularly for special end user groups such as older adults. So far, usability metrics that are accessible and useful for software developers are still missing. Although usability standards are continually being developed and adapted to the rapid change in both software and computing hardware, the increasing diversity of elderly populations, both culturally and educationally, requires the development of a specific set of criteria. This paper studies two different aspects of usability for the elderly; passiveand activeinteraction. It explores the limitations of active interaction, its potential causes and results. The long term goal is the development of new methods to counteract potential negative bias with regard to passive interaction. More specifically, we are investigating achievable metrics for the evaluation of passive technology trustworthiness and usability while categorizing them according to applicability for usability testing.