Usability evaluation plan for advanced technology services for prevention and management of chronic conditions for the elderly

Abstract

This paper analyzes the methodology and preliminary results of the usability evaluation of large scale technology services for the prevention and management of chronic conditions of elderly people. REMOTE, a three years European project in the Ambient Assisted Living domain, aims to define and establish a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to research and development of advanced technology services for addressing real needs of elderly people. The target population included citizens at risk due to geographic and social isolation in combination with specific chronic conditions and the coexistence of lifestyle risk factors, such as obesity, blood pressure, poor eating/drinking habits, stress and others. Technology services provided by the project include wearables and sensors for detecting body temperature, heart rate, human posture, as well as sensors and actuators to be installed in premises for providing context information, such as air temperature, human location and motion. The article presents the usability evaluation plan that was developed for the purposes of the project, as well as some preliminary results from the usability evaluation. © Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering 2013.