Influence of Age on the Usability Assessment of the Instagram Application

Abstract

Information technologies have changed the way humans relate and communicate. In this scenario, smartphones have used the Internet and social networks much faster, easily and more accessibly. Based on this communication need and on this facilitated channel, it is necessary for these technologies to be available and to be usable by users of all ages. Parallel to this reality, the number of elderly people has grown by the day. This research aims to evaluate the usability of the Instagram social network app, through the use of smartphones, focusing on people aged over 60. The main results were that the elderly took, on average, five times longer than young adults, which did not imply a negative evaluation of the application. In addition, this group of participants stated that they would use Instagram again after their first contact with the application.