Investigating the usability of PDAs with ageing users

Abstract

Mobile technologies have the potential to enhance the lives of ageing users, especially those who experience a decline in cognitive abilities. However, diminutive devices often perplex the aged and many HCI problems exist. This research ultimately aims to develop a mobile reminiscent application for ageing users entitled MemoryLane. This application will use artificial intelligent techniques to compose and convey excerpts from a lifetime's memories to the user in a multimodal storytelling format. The proposed deployment platform for MemoryLane is a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). The initial stage of this research, a HCI pilot study was recently conducted with a sample of ageing users, the study aimed to investigate the usability of a PDA. This paper documents the methodologies employed in this pilot study and its subsequent results. The next stages of the research are also identified and discussed. © 2007 Sheila Mc Carthy, Heather Sayers & Paul Mc Kevitt.