Improving Usability of Technology for Older Adults With and Without Mild Cognitive Impairment
Research | User Experience | Behavioral Science | Product Design
Industry
Healthcare
Year
2022
Role
UX Strategist
Overview
Social engagement is critical for contributing to great health and quality of life. However, older adults are at risk of social isolation, which may lead to negative health outcomes. OneClick Chat is a video chat platform specifically designed for older adults. Currently, there is a V1 but we are looking to see how we can improve the platform so it is intuitive, friendly, and catered to older adults with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
The goal of this UX initiative is less on targeting modern visual aesthetics but rather on improving the usability and accessibility for a underrepresented population when it comes to utilizing technology.
The Problem
While technology has been useful in fostering social connections, most tools out there are not intuitive or user-friendly for older adults. In addition to video platforms not being tailored for older adults, they are most definitely not designed for those with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
With funding of $2M from the National Institutes of Health, we were inspired to investigate social and video preferences of older adults as well as to gain insight regarding underlying usability issues of OneClick Chat, including the website and the video platform.
Improving the usability and designing the experience to be geared towards older adults would increase engagement and thus adoption of the product.
The Solution
After conducting user interviews, surveys, heuristic analysis, and usability testing, we were able to identify older adults' preferences as well as UX issues. As part of my role, I interpreted the analyses and results to develop more intuitive and friendly designs of key touchpoints for our target demographic of older adults.
My Role
I was the UX lead that translated insights from gerontologists and human factor researchers into concepts and designs of the product solution
I also discussed higher level UX and product strategy with the product lead and CEO
Goal
We wanted to study older adults' needs and preferences for using a video chat platform
High Level Goals
Investigate older adults' experiences, attitudes, and preferences of the OneClick video chat platform, including those with or without MCI
Assess and improve the design of the video chat platform to address the interests, abilities, and usability issues
Methodology
User interviews and surveys - We wanted to understand older adults' experiences with other popular video chat systems (competitors), such as Skype or Facetime, as well as their general attitudes and preference toward video chatting.
Heuristic evaluation - We also wanted to identify potential usability problems. I collaborated with human factors researchers to audit and evaluate the current system
Usability testing - We wanted participants to interact and use the OneClick chat platform and provide feedback
Discovery
Surveys
We had participants complete questionnaires and structured interviews which investigated their preferences and experiences using video chat systems
Frequency of use
Who they spoke with
Topics they discussed
Perceptions of usability
Questionnaires collected information on:
Demographics
Computer proficiency (Computer Proficiency Questionnaire)
Social engagement levels (Loneliness Scale and Friendship Scale)
Experience with social network (Social Networking Questionnaire)
Perceptions of video chatting (Perceived Ease of Use and Usefulness Questionnaire)
★ Insights
Video chat platforms were used "less than once or twice a year"
Email was used "more than once a week"
Text messaging was used "more than few times a month"
53.3% reported never using video chat
26.7% used video chat once or twice a year
20.0% used video chat a few times a month
Participants mainly used video chat, if they did, to contact family or set up events
Interviews
★ Insights
Some anecdotes from participants:
“I like that I can text and talk, people might have an idea that they didn’t wanna interrupt the conversation” [Male, 74 years old]
“way more trouble than it’s worth, it might take some time to get used to that”, and she preferred video events, because video events “would have a purpose, an announcement or something” [Female, 76 years old].
"I might get confused about what I [was] supposed to click on, but once I did, I would know" [Female, 86 years old];
"If you show me where... I'll not remember it, but that's okay, if I see it a couple of times, I will get it " [Male, 70 years old, MCI]
Reported concerns:
Privacy, price, quality of video, busy schedule, shyness
Other perceptions
66.7% prefer to be socially engaged with others in face-to-face conversation over video chat
Heuristic Analysis
In addition to the heuristic analyses conducted with the human factors researchers, I also did a UX audit based on the heuristic analyses and UX principles, bringing insight as a UX practitioner.
1. UX Audit and Recommendations.pdfWCAG 2.0
I also did a WCAG review of major OneClick Chat webpages as part of the SaaS, including the Events Page (key touchpoint for events held on the video platform), sign in page, and the video platform itself.
This image provides a snapshot of my analysis and review. Due to the proprietary nature of the work, details have been deliberately omitted while still illustrating the structure, methodology, and depth of the work conducted.
Design
After auditing the platform, we realized there were many interactions that could be improved for different user scenarios.
Scenario 1: Understanding muted audio and videos in virtual events.
User is attending a virtual event. Their microphones and videos are automatically muted by the host so the host can speak.
In virtual events, microphones and videos are automatically muted by the host, which confuses users who may not realize why they cannot speak. Taking the insights uncovered from the user research and heuristic evaluation, we had to find a way to easily communicate this to the user.
We displayed a prominent message at the beginning of the event, ensuring users acknowledge their microphone and video are disabled. The placement is where the user will naturally see as the focal point. By requiring the user confirm the message, this can better ensures that they see it before proceeding, increasing visibility and comprehension.
Scenario 2: Clarity in microphone status
The problem is the term "muted" may not be immediately clear to older users. We display the text: “Your microphone is turned off” next to the participant's name for easy visibility, grouping important information is in one area.
The language is also more clear and easy to understand for older adults - "turned off" as opposed to "muted."
Scenario 3: Encouraging alternative communication
To address the user need for alternative ways to speak in the event, we put another reminder near where the user can send a message in the chat box: "Your microphone is muted so the event host can speak. Write your message here." The reminder disappears once the user has interacted with the chat section.
Scenario 4: Contextual help for event mode vs video mode
Another important touchpoint is the "Need Help?" section. Since Events Mode is different from Video Mode, the content for this section should be different. For example, the situation for audio issues such as "Other people can't hear me" in Event Mode would require different answers compared to a non-event call. We tailored troubleshooting options to address mode-specific concerns, such as audio issues that may arise in events.
Since this is the "Help" section, we place the "Your camera and microphone are currently turned off so the vent host can speak" as another friendly reminder at the top of the modal.
Scenario 5: Improving navigation and accessibility on the Events page
Another one of the touchpoints we wanted to redesign was the Events page. This was an important touchpoint because it was where many new and returning users would access these virtual events. It was a way for new users to try the video chat platform while participating in the virtual events.
The human factors researchers and gerontologists on our team suggested that to improve navigation, the page should:
Use a calendar, displaying one week at a time
Have minimal scrolling, especially for those with motor control issues
Make it easy to RSVP without much cursor movement
Categorize the events so user can find what they're looking for
Have a customer support number visually available, where user does not need to make additional clicks ot reach support
The new design reflected these insights by having a simple calendar section that displayed week by week. A dropdown selection is also available where the user can select the week they want and navigate using that.
This addresses cognitive and motor challenges, so as to not overwhelm the user with too many events at once and to reduce excessive scrolling. The design also ensured the text was large and clear enough so that the users can easily read them.
Impact
There were a lot of improvements made throughout the video platform. Compared with the previous version, our newly improved platform increased session duration time by 87.58%, indicating how users were more engaged and willing to use the application for a longer period of time.
It was really exciting to collaborate and use insights gathered from gerontologists and human factors researchers. It's particularly rewarding to merge research between academia and real-world contexts. It's also interesting to see how the human factors researchers were able to provide input that shared similar overlap to the feedback I had provided as a UX practitioner.
Overall, this project reinforced the importance of using guidelines and principles from heuristic analyses and WCAG to improve experiences for older adults. The findings extracted from the interviews and survey were also eye-opening, especially since we typically do not work with older adults as part of the process for designing digital solutions. What is considered "usable" for a young Gen-Z may not be usable for an older adult, thus it was really rewarding and powerful to redefine how technology is perceived and used by this target demographic.