Understanding differentiated internet use in older adults: A study of informational, social, and instrumental online activities

Schehl, Barbara; Leukel, Joerg; Sugumaran, Vijayan

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2019.03.031

Cited by 88 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…The number of older adults going online and using digital media over the past decades has increased steadily (Anderson and Perrin 2017;Eurostat 2016Eurostat , 2018b. Older users express an interest in using such technology in varying ways, including for informational and social reasons (Schehl, Leukel, and Sugumaran 2019), which has implications for how they connect with others and general well-being (Forsman et al 2018;Quan-Haase, Mo, and Wellman 2017;Shillair et al 2015). Additionally, older adults express an interest in learning more about digital technologies and the benefits they offer (Schreurs et al 2017), pointing to a need for support.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“He Explained It to Me and I Also Did It Myself”: How Older Adults Get Support with Their Technology Uses

Hunsaker

Nguyen

Fuchs

et al. 2019

Socius

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Given that older adults constitute a highly heterogeneous group that engages with digital media in varying ways, there is likely to be large variation in technology support needs, something heretofore unaddressed in the literature. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with a multinational sample of older adults, the authors explore the support needs of older adults for using digital media, including their perceptions of whether the support they receive meets their needs. Participants obtained assistance from both informal (e.g., adult children) and formal (e.g., computer classes) sources. However, the support given can lack immediacy, leaving older adults dependent on others’ availability to provide it. Educational approaches that emphasize individualized support and wide availability might allow an improved experience for a population that is increasingly online with an interest in a wide range of activities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“He Explained It to Me and I Also Did It Myself”: How Older Adults Get Support with Their Technology Uses

Hunsaker

Nguyen

Fuchs

et al. 2019

Socius

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“…Not only does the extent of use range from non-users and reluctant users to savvy users (Quan-Haase, Williams, Kicevski, Elueze, & Wellman, 2018), older adults also vary in the types of online-media used. A study of urban populations suggests that older adults, who are younger, more educated, or engage more in cultural activities are more likely to use the Internet for social activities (Schehl, Leukel, & Sugumaran, 2019). Social networking sites are more popular among older adults that are younger, higher educated, have higher incomes (Anderson & Perrin, 2017), are female, and are widowed (Yu, Ellison, McCammon, & Langa, 2016a).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

New Rules of Engagement: How Adaptation To Online Media Changes Older Adults' Social Connectedness

Hage

Offenbeek

Boonstra

2020

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

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Older adults often struggle to adjust to the rapid changes in the digitizing media landscape. In this article, we study, first, how 10 older adults adapt new online media into their daily lives and, by doing so, adjust to the changing “rules of engagement” that guide online-media use in their social surroundings. Second, we analyze how this adaptation process generates change in older adults' social connectedness. Results suggest that older adults' non-use of popular online media results in social exclusion. Enhancing their social connectedness, requires older adults to (partially) conform to new communication norms and values. Based on our findings, we propose three adaptation strategies that enhance both offline and online social connectedness.

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“…Indeed, when asked to categorize their use of online banking, 40% (6/15) classified themselves as 'experienced' or 'very experienced'. This is quite a high percentage, particularly compared to the previously mentioned study by Schehl et al, which found that 77% of those older users they surveyed had never used online banking [43]. This existing experience of online banking systems and the resemblance between our flat design and existing banking interfaces may have had an effect on the results, resulting in the average SUS ratings for our flat UI being in line with other works that have asked users to rate their own banks' online user interfaces [41].…”

Section: Conclusion and Further Workmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…While many banking users already make use of online banking to a large extent, this is not yet completely true of older users and can depend on several other factors. For example, in a 2019 survey of 1222 older users, it was found that 77% reported never using online banking [43]. If the current trend of bank closures continues, these users will have to begin to make use of online banking [3].…”

Section: Conclusion and Further Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Skeuomorphic Design Provide a Better Online Banking User Experience for Older Adults?

Ellis

Marshall

2019

MTI

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With the prevalence of digital technologies and internet connectivity, combined with the reduction in footfall on high streets, banks have taken steps to move most of their customer base online. This has left many older adults behind, trying to keep up with the changes and having to learn to use sometimes complex online banking interfaces. In this work we investigate whether skeuomorphic design can create a more usable online banking system for older adults, compared to the more commonplace flat design. This work took a user-centered approach, beginning with interviews with older adults that were conducted to gather data to be used in the production of prototype user interfaces. Two prototypes were then created: a flat user interface and a skeuomorphic one. We evaluated these interfaces with 15 older adults, gathering a combination of data, including data from the System Usability Scale, observations, and interviews. Results of the experiments showed that our older users preferred the flat prototype to the skeuomorphic one, but raised some potentially useful guidelines for the design of future skeuomorphic user interfaces for older adults. A validation experiment with 17 younger adults (aged 20–25) also showed that the skeuomorphic interface was more usable for older adults than younger ones.

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Understanding differentiated internet use in older adults: A study of informational, social, and instrumental online activities

Cited by 88 publications

References 44 publications

“He Explained It to Me and I Also Did It Myself”: How Older Adults Get Support with Their Technology Uses

“He Explained It to Me and I Also Did It Myself”: How Older Adults Get Support with Their Technology Uses

New Rules of Engagement: How Adaptation To Online Media Changes Older Adults' Social Connectedness

Can Skeuomorphic Design Provide a Better Online Banking User Experience for Older Adults?

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