1st Edition

Designing Displays for Older Adults

By Anne McLaughlin, Richard Pak Copyright 2011
    212 Pages 167 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Literally hundreds of papers have been written about interface issues experienced by older adults, but how many actually influence the designs older adults use? The sheer number of articles available, the fast pace of the industry, and time constraints combine to build barriers to knowledge transfer from theory into practice. A distillation of decades of published research, Designing Displays for Older Adults is a primer on age-related changes in cognition, perception, and behavior organized into meaningful principles that improve understanding.

    Using theory backed up by evidence provides an understanding of why we see certain problems with many displays and often predicts solutions. This understanding surpasses an individual interface and provides practitioners with ways to plan for older adults on multiple display types. Based on this, the book delineates the theories, then explores how to apply them in real design exercises, providing specific guidelines for display examples that bridge theory and practice. The authors explore the complex set of mental and physical changes that occur during aging and that can affect technology acceptance, adoption, interaction, safety, and satisfaction.

    This book provides a fundamental understanding of age related change and explores how such information can influence design from the very beginning stages, rather than waiting for testing to reveal the problems users have with the product. The authors open the way for designing with an understanding of these changes that results in better products and systems for users in all life stages.

    Introduction
    What Do Older Adults Want from Technology? What Do They do with Technology?
    Stereotypes of Older Users
    Universal Design
    What is a Display? 
    Goals for the Book
    Accessibility Guidelines
    Overview of the Book 
    Suggested Readings
    Vision
    How Vision Changes with Age
    Interim Summary
    Display Technologies
    In Practice: Presenting Information on the Web
    General Design Guidelines
    Suggested Readings
    Hearing
    How Hearing Changes With Age
    Interim Summary
    Accessibility Aids
    Interim Summary
    Human Language
    Interim Summary
    Designing Audio Displays
    In Practice: The Auditory Interface
    General Design Guidelines
    Suggested Readings
    Cognition
    How Cognition Changes With Age
    In Practice: Organization of Information
    General Design Guidelines
    Suggested Readings
    Movement
    How Movement Changes with Age
    Interim Summary
    Movement Disorders
    Accessibility Aids for Movement Control
    Interim Summary
    In Practice: Movement on a Display
    General Design Guidelines
    Suggested Readings
    Older Adults in the User-Centered Design Process
    How Testing Older Users is Different
    Requirements Gathering
    Evaluation/Inspection
    Designing/Prototyping/Implementing Alternate Designs
    Recruiting
    Summary
    Suggested Readings
    Preface to Usability Evaluations and Redesigns
    Organization of the Redesign Chapters
    Displays Chosen for Evaluation and Redesign
    Integrative Example: Mobile Phone
    Perceptual Concerns
    Cognitive
    Usability Assessment
    Specific Design Changes/
    Summary
    Suggested Readings and References
    Integrative Example: Set Top Box
    Cognitive Concerns
    Perceptual Concerns
    Usability Assessment
    Specific Design Changes/Recommendations
    Summary
    Suggested Readings
    Integrative Example: Home Medical Device
    Cognitive Concerns
    Perceptual Concerns
    Movement Control and Input
    Usability Assessment
    Specific Design Changes/Recommendations
    Summary
    Suggested Readings
    Integrative Example: Automobile Displays
    Cognitive Concerns
    Perceptual Concerns
    Guidelines
    Movement Control and Input Devices
    Usability Assessment
    Specific Design Changes/Recommendations
    Summary
    Suggested Readings
    Conclusion
    Themes
    Important Future Goals
    Concluding Remarks

    Biography

    Anne McLaughlin, Richard Pak