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Digital User Interface Design Tools Development For Elderly

By Pitchaya Nilrungratana

THE ELDERLY’S DIGITALIZATION

Exhibition from thesis research

Digital User Interface Design Tools Development for Elderly

By

Ph.D. candidate: Pitchaya Nilrungratana

Advisor: Assistant Professor Dr. Atithep Chaetnalao

Ph.D. Program

Department of Design

Faculty of Decorative Arts

Silpakorn University

OPENSPACE@TCDC

TCDC BANGKOK  FLOOR 1

The exhibition is part of the project Open Space @TCDC, which allows creative people to express their potential through showcases and a variety of creative activities.

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The phenomenon of rapid digital transformation affects people all over the world, including the age group that may not seem very relevant to the digital world such as the elderly. As the world changes, the changing physical condition becomes the limitation of accessing the unfamiliar digital world farther and farther. Adaptation by the elderly themselves may not be the only solution. Creating an accessible user experience could be a way to get the elderly faster into the digital world we’ve been hoping for.

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How old are you to be an “elderly”?

The term “elderly” is now defined in some countries as being 65 years or older. But in Thailand, the definition of the elderly is still at 60 years and over according to the present criteria (The Elderly Act, B.E. 2546). However, the division of the elderly by age alone is not currently restricted. Close observation of the elderly revealed that in some cases the age of the elderly cannot be clearly distinguished. For example, some groups of elderly people aged 60 years look younger while others are older than their actual age. It can be caused by different physical conditions, health care and physical background. Therefore, the elderly were divided by other methods than the age division.

At present, Thailand tends to divide the elderly according to ADL (Activities of Daily Living) into 3 groups.

            1) Active

            2) House-Bound

            3) Bed-Bound

The research focuses on the active group with good living conditions. This group has the physical and economic readiness of the households contributing to the availability of digital technology devices. In addition to further studies of the generation, it is found that the generation has an effect on behavior or beliefs individually. Therefore, the division by generation is also used. By referring to the onset of the elderly at the age of 60 years and over, we can divide the generation into 3 groups.

            1) 60 – 69 years

            2) 70 – 79 years

            3) 80 years and over

The generation is consistent with the topic of aesthetic studies of the elderly. It is closely related to the influences in art, design and media that affect people of different eras that are noticeably different.

1.

The elderly do not like to be called “the elderly.”

During the research, the researcher participated in observations with the creators of the Younghappy app, a community of the elderly that offers classes on how to use digital technology devices and digital media. The researcher found a cute story that in the group, all elderly people will be called “brothers and sisters”, which creates smiles and good friendships. It reduces the age gap and makes the elderly feel involved and feel that they are at an age where they can learn to use digital technology as much as young people.

2.

In the pre-research period, I often come across writings that the elderly tend to use tablets due to their large size. But from the data collected from 100 elderly people in Thailand in this research conducted in 2020, it appears that the number of them owns smart phones about 97%. And in interviews, the elderly argue that tablets have large screens, but their weight and size make them difficult to carry around. Today’s mobile phones come in a large selection of screen sizes, so you can buy a bigger screen. 62% of the elderly are satisfied with the screen size of a smartphone that is about the size of a palm of the hand, while only 15% are satisfied with the size of a tablet screen.

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Faster entry into an aging society

Now in 2022,

Thailand has completely entered an aging society.

Throughout the research from 2019 until now, it turns out that Thailand’s aging statistics and predictions of entering the aging society are “faster”. Until this moment, Thailand is considered a completely aging society.

The three levels of aging society include aged society, which means that the country has people aged 60 years and over in the proportion of 10% of the population. Thailand has entered this level since 2005. The next level is complete aged society. The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board has predicted that Thailand will enter this level in 2021. It is estimated that people aged 60 and over account for 20% of the population. In 2022, we can see that wherever we look, there will be many elderly people. It is considered that the elderly ratio is 1 in 5 of the population. Thailand has a tendency to enter the super aged society when the population who is 60 years or over are accounted for 28% of the population in 2031.

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Introduction

Thai elderly people are also interested in digital technology.

Countries that entered the aging society before Thailand have used digital technology to solve problems arising from the aging society to fit its context. It goes from creating applications that help the elderly with their livelihoods to countries that have the ability to build end-to-end technology systems such as assistive devices in nursing homes. It can be seen that humans have the idea that digital technology will be an innovation that can help people until the end of their lives. The entry into the aging society in Thailand has also brought about the use of digital technologies such as applications and digital devices for the elderly, or even produced robots for the elderly to sell in the market.

According to research, a number of the elderly are interested in the use of digital technology, especially touch screen technologies such as phones and tablets. There are 55% of the elderly who are interested and want to use them. 24% of the elderly who started out wondering why their children and their peers liked to use them want to try it too. They like communication applications such as LINE or social media like Facebook. The elderly will be happy to use them to socialize with old friends or keep in touch with grandchildren. Plus, they can also show their friends pictures of their lives through social media.

At the same time, there is a group of elderly people aged 80 and over who do not pay much attention to digital technology devices. Rather, it is the group whose children want the elderly to learn how to use it for safety and to facilitate when they have to stay at home alone while their children go to work. It makes this group need more persuasion than other groups.

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Problems of teaching the elderly to use digital technology

When the elderly are interested in using digital technology, especially smartphones which are devices that are popular today, most of the elderly will let their grandchildren or close relatives teach them how to use it. Only some of them can learn to use it on their own. Other than that, there must be an instructor to teach them. Sometimes they have to be taught more than once. This is a very common problem with families in Thailand. Many times teaching how to use a digital device, whether it’s just a digital TV remote or applications on smartphones, becomes a point of contention between the elderly and their children. It causes the annoyance and displeasure of being repeatedly called to teach and the elderly aren’t able to use them as expected.

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This research is based on the researcher’s grandfather who is over 90 years old. He is an elderly person with an interest in digital technology. He has tried to learn to use it on his own but has to rely on the children of his family to help teach or operate more difficult functions. Many times the children have to teach the same things over and over again. It leads the researchers to find a solution to this problem by looking at modifying the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) to be more appropriate for the elderly.

What about you?

Are there any elderly people at home?

Have you ever encountered problems with the elderly’s use of digital technology at home?

How do you solve the problem? Let’s share!

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How to take the elderly into the digital world?

UX/UI, the link between human and digital

The same link that will lead the elderly to the digital world

Today, no matter which direction you turn, you will see UX/UI or UI/UX. Many people who are not in the digital world may just have heard of it and do not know what it is.

UX (User Experience) refers to what gives users the ability to operate an electronic device or use the software and applications that appear on an electronic device. It uses the principle of observing the user’s usage on other devices and then designing the way of using it for the user to be familiar with. It also covers giving users what they want. It benefits usability with the user experience and methods of access and interaction with digital technology devices. However, the meaning of user experience can be interpreted and defined a lot. It also overlaps with other disciplines besides design science.

UI (User Interface) refers to the interface between the user and the digital technology device. The first user interface is what appears on the screen, buttons, controls, keyboards, mice, or any device designed to carry user-to-device commands. User interface design is the design of what the “user” feels with their five senses. Most are tangible, containing all images, patterns, symbols, or graphic designs that the user can see. It uses beauty or design identity to attract users. It takes aesthetics, art, and design by integrating multiple design disciplines to be able to design user interfaces.

User experiences and user interfaces are the gateway to the many uses of digital technology today. For the elderly, both are bridges but there may be patterns or features that the elderly are unable to understand how to connect or bring them into the digital world. Or some of them may feel that using such a link is difficult and causing discomfort in using it.

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“The user experience proves whether a product is useful, easy to use, enjoyable, popular in the market, or addictive.”

Steve Krug, usability consultant

Author of Don’t Make Me Think and Rocket Surgery Made Easy

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“User interface design is about impressing users by giving them what they want, without the user expecting what they want.”

Reed Jones, Senior Experience Designer at Autodesk

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“Designer” who connects two worlds for the elderly

Building a bridge to bring the elderly to the digital world will have a UX/UI designer to design the link to be effective. This research aims to develop tools that will enable designers to integrate UX/UI knowledge into design for the elderly. We work to create the most suitable and usable media, products and digital technologies.

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Research framework to find the extracted knowledge for further development as a tool

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ACCESSIBILITY / DESIGN / CONTENT

Things that go hand in hand to create a UX/UI for the elderly

Core knowledge of designing user interface and user experience for seniors in this research is divided into…

ACCESSIBILITY

It is an important part to enable the elderly to be able to use digital technology in form, method of use, and the ability to use various tools comfortably and appropriately.

DESIGN

It is a design that, in addition to the functionality, must also consider the beauty, the principles of artistic design elements, and the aesthetics of designing to suit the beauty that the elderly want.

CONTENT

It is content that is one of the core aspects of designing any medium for the elderly. Content is one thing that the elderly can access and use. It makes them need it and want to use it for a long time.

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Knowledge of UX/UI for the elderly

When being the elderly is a characteristic in many dimensions

As the world is waking up to design for diversity, we may have heard the term universal design. There are handicapped people, people with disabilities, and the elderly who are considered as one of those diverse groups. It has become a digital technology design standard that has been created universally for people with disabilities and the elderly to share. For example, the accessibility setting in the smartphone makes people with disabilities access various functions. The elderly can use the settings in this category as well. In addition, there are many universal design standards that are widely used.

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Examples of design standards for digital technology

The Web Designers Association in the United States and some countries share a common standard, WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). The standard is currently being revised to various versions, including WCAS 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2, and version 3 is being developed in the future.

WCAG is a standardization document developed by the AGWG (Accessibility Guidelines Working Group) as part of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) and the WAI Web Accessibility Initiative. It is a committee elected by the TAG (Technical Architecture Group) of the world’s top technology conglomerates such as Microsoft, Alibaba, and Google. User interface designers in the United States are strictly WCAG-based in design to provide equal access to digital media for normal people, people with disabilities, and people of all ages.

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Originally, people might view “being the elderly” as a form of disability. If we look at it physically, it may be compared. But when looking from other views, “being the elderly” has its own characteristics that can be designed UX/UI that meets perceptions and needs interestingly.

Cognitive experiences and age differences lead to differences in understanding.

The experiences and attitudes of the elderly, including the psychology of their perceptions of the UX/UI of digital media devices, are both physical and psychological. It includes both the psychological perception and satisfaction of them in terms of aesthetic and experiential perceptions associated with UX.

Although the behavior of the elderly has some degree of individuality, there are common factors that can be classified as behaviors. They are categorized according to the age ranges found in the generation focus study. Elderly people of different generations have different behaviors, experiences and taste preferences.

60 – 69 years

The elderly in the late and mid Baby Boomers

They are able to use electronic devices as a result of the transition from manual to digital mode of operation. In this group, the elderly have started to use computers at work, making it isn’t difficult to learn to use digital devices and digital products. They therefore have the opportunity to become proficient users of technology until they can develop their own use without the need for other age groups to teach.

70 – 79 years

The elderly in the late, mid, and early Baby Boomers

This group has no opportunity to touch electronic or digital devices during their work. They often separate the use of digital devices as a matter of convenience and entertainment. It’s not related to work. There are some of them who are willing to learn to use new digital devices such as smartphones or smart TVs because they need them in their daily life. But they need to be assisted or taught many times.

80 years and over

The elderly from Silent Generation or Greatest Generation

They have lived through the World War II and experienced a time when the world’s population encountered common hardships. Most of this group feels that digital technology is for young people, and it is not necessary in their daily lives. But they are able to accept digital technology devices for entertainment such as television and radio because they are familiar with them. There are a few daily activities of the elderly in this group. Most of the time, they will be watching television where they may be able to turn on and off with an analog mode. But if they need to use digital mode, they must have children to teach them how to use it with easy steps. If they’re at home alone, their children may be worried. So their children choose to use other digital devices to help them with safety, such as trackers, surveillance cameras, and robots. But most elderly see it as unnecessary and may feel annoyed if a tracking device is used.

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Creating a graphical user interface (GUI) for the elderly

The mental models of user interface and user experience designers can be used as a primary design solution for the elderly. It can be adapted to different ages of the elderly as well. Designers should have an understanding of the experience of using equipment and tools that the elderly are familiar with. It is then applied in the design to suit each type of media or digital product as well as to match the content that you want to present.

Designers have to learn how to use digital devices that the elderly are familiar with, especially unexpected things near them such as television remotes. The elderly in the group of 80 years old and over have the ability to turn on the TV with the remote, but may only use the function of turning on and off, changing channels with arrows, and increasing the volume. In the group of 70-79 years old, they may use it more. And in the group of 60 – 69 years old, they can use the TV remote as usual because it is a user interface device that is widely used in this group of elderly people. From just a simple device such as a TV remote, there are many aspects of behavioral study of mental models for the elderly. It is therefore worth expanding further studies if we want to design a graphical user interface for the elderly to best fit the experience.

From the study of some objects and designs that influence the elderly, we observe that in addition to the experiential familiarity of the elderly, the aesthetics and beauty seen by the elderly are also present.

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Objects on display

Pressing the button with force causes the button to sink into it.

We have noticed the elderly who may not be comfortable with pressing buttons on the touchscreen at first because they are not familiar with the weight. Pressing the buttons according to the behavior that the elderly are familiar with requires forceful pressure that causes the buttons to sink or bounce off.

Twisting gesture

We often find user interfaces that require twisting gestures that nowadays it’s hard to find on touchscreens. But if there is a user interface that uses the motion capture method, it may be possible to use this gesture in the future.

A calendar that the elderly are familiar with

Designs from the era

Linoleum pattern

Sometimes young people do not like the patterns of things that are present at home from birth. They are often chosen by parents or elderly who were previously there with passion. Some say it is a beautiful pattern. That fondness remains in the hearts of the elderly even after a long time. It doesn’t change with today’s youth trends. It makes us think that what young people like today might not be the same things they like ten years in the future when they’re old.

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Aesthetic for Elderly

The elderly have the same aesthetic, artistic and design preferences as any other ages. But general people or even the elderly themselves often understand that the elderly user interface is not necessarily aesthetically pleasing because the elderly are only interested in usability. But psychologists say that the elderly are the age when they start to think about their own life. They tend to be receptive to aesthetic preferences, artistic and natural beauty, and yearning for the beauty of the past according to their age. People traditionally assumed that the elderly had no interest in the beauty of art or design in the use of objects, devices, including digital devices. But in fact, the elderly have their own tastes and preferences as well. Each of them has different aesthetic preferences. Using the concept of nostalgia, or recalling the joys of childhood or youth, is another thing that makes the elderly satisfied. In interviews with the elderly, when referring to stories about the beauty of childhood or adolescence, they tend to talk with more liveliness than talking about anything else.

Aesthetics appropriate for the elderly are influenced by art and design that influenced the youth of those elderly. Therefore, an analysis was done by comparing the age of the elderly with the history of art and design to find the relationship between the beauties in the eyes of the elderly of the same age.

Examples of how the elderly are familiar with and affect the user experience and user interface, as well as the influence of aesthetics by age

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VISUAL DESIGN that should be considered in UX/UI design for the elderly

People over the age of 60 are more likely to suffer from eye problems. Visibility is essential to most user interfaces and user experience these days. Many digital devices and products are screen-type devices. They make the use of eye function, but eyesight is an important problem for the elderly that most of them face. Therefore, most UX/UI designs for the elderly need to be visual and visual in the first place.

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Do the elderly see colors like us?

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Suitable color difference

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How big are the letters? What fonts are appropriate to use?

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Screen composition that easier for the elderly to use.

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Gesture of use

How to use it after seeing?

Today’s touchscreen technology isn’t just about pressing, tapping, and touching. But different finger gestures can make a difference in how you interact with digital media screens as well. Here are some typical screen interaction gestures from Examining the Usability of Touch Screen Gestures for Elderly People (Cáliz, Doris & Alaman, 2016: 419-429).

Double Tap

Double tapping in a row

Computer users may be familiar with a function known as double click by using a mouse device to quickly double-tap a click on a button. Most of us understand that double tapping is to open a file or to open something hidden in that area. It has become a common user experience adopted in the era of touch screens as well. The elderly who have used computers before are accustomed to double-tapping to open. But if the elderly who have never used a computer before will not know that they can tape or tape more than once. They often experience multiple taping when buttons or touch areas become unresponsive.

Long Press

Long touch or 3D touch

On Apple devices, pressing like this is often tapping a button to bring up another button that is a sub-function of that button. The users must know the timing of the long tap and release in order to tap another button that appears again. If it is just a long touch, the elderly can easily learn to do it. But if they have to press additional sub-keys, it may take more time to learn how to press them. It is therefore not suitable for the elderly who are new to technology. If the elderly are used to using technology, they will be able to know the timing of pressing. But we shouldn’t let the sub-buttons disappear too quickly because the elderly may not be able to keep up with them.

Drag

Tapping drags an object on the screen from one point to the other and releases it

This is another difficult pressing gesture for the elderly. It’s an interactive gesture that rarely appears in apps or platforms common to the elderly. But it may also appear in gaming, entertainment, or mimicking some real-life behavioral platforms, such as picking items and throwing them into the cart to mimic how they actually buy products.

Although dragging is not an interactive gesture that is initially recommended for the elderly, it is a good posture for them to use to exercise their muscles or be a useful activity in sensory learning practice. It is suitable to create a small game for the elderly to try. And it’s perfect to mimic the behavior of something in reality such as the behavior of scrolling to increase the volume on the sound bar.

Scale Up and Scale Down

Using two fingers to enlarge an image or object

Most of them are enlarged images or even illegible characters. It is a behavior that the elderly are easy to learn and when learning, they become used to it. Nowadays, many elderly people are used to using two fingers to expand images or letters on a smartphone screen. While the elderly who have hand, finger, and fine motor control problems, or who have difficulty moving fingers with physical conditions such as locked fingers, may have trouble controlling two fingers or have no strength to control two fingers at the same time.

One Finger Rotation

Rotating an object with one finger

It is the use of fingers that need to use the wrist to help twist and turn. User interfaces like this are rare. It may be found with some applications or platforms that allow rotation to view images or objects from all angles like real objects, or the use of a knob called a knob that looks like a knob in contemporary analogue devices with the elderly. Even in playing games or entertainment media that need to be controlled by rotating objects on the screen, this kind of usage should be careful for elderly people who have problems with hand muscle control, especially the wrist that can’t twist.

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SOUND

New alternative user interface

The hearing condition of the elderly is one that changes with age just like vision or physical deterioration. User interface and user experience design technologies are beginning to bring voice commands to device interactions. Voice commands are a new dimension in user interface and user experience. Using voice commands requires a user interface that indicates where voice commands are available and may provide guidance or guides on which commands to use. The voice recognition system takes into account the speech of the elderly that may be slow, physically low, unclear, including the language barrier of the elderly voice design.

An important consideration in user interface and user experience design for the elderly is their hearing conditions such as the level and quality of sound that the elderly need. The elderly can better listen to low tones because when the auditory nerve is deteriorating, it is more difficult for them to pick up high tones. Human voices are loud in the 500-2000 hertz frequency band. As the elderly enter their 50s and older, their ability to hear sounds in certain frequencies may decline, so they cannot hear clearly. And as they reach the age of 60, sounds in the frequency band above 2000 hertz that are highs become more difficult to hear. It is 1.5 times more than the low noise.

The elderly over the age of 70 may be annoyed by the noise and find the ambient noise too loud. When hearing lower-frequency sounds, sometimes the elderly will increase the volume. Or high-frequency speakers that increase the volume will cause eardrum-scratching noises in the elderly’s ears.

Sound frequency

Choosing a voice for the elderly should use low-frequency rather than high-frequency sounds (lower than high), and use loud, but not loud enough to be annoying. Emphasize the sound of speech that is clear. Ambient sound is not necessary because it will annoy the elderly or make them unable to distinguish the sound.

Voice Tone

The elderly people may find it too inconvenient to talk to things that look like robots. Therefore, the design of voice interactions for the elderly needs should be as natural or human-like as possible. We should also improve the sound perception to suit the reduced speech abilities of the elderly.

Speaker Equipment

The elderly with reduced hearing impairment or neurosis who hear crickets-like sounds in their ears are signs that the inner ears have a problem. It includes the elderly with hearing impairments that require hearing aids. For the elderly to listen to sound, we should not use a listening device that is inserted in ear. We should avoid designing digital products that require an in-ear listening device but in the form of external speakers. Or if a listening device is needed, it should be like bone conduction headphones that use sound vibrations through the cheekbones to the inner ear without passing through the eardrum. It is a hearing device developed for use by the deaf and underwater communication into a commercially available digital listening device.

Sound Therapy

One of the benefits of digital media helping the elderly with neurodegenerative disease is having them listen to music, nature sounds, or soothing sounds from applications or digital media. It will reduce stress and may help reduce the noise in the ears caused by neuropathy. Although there is no cure for this ringing in the ears, it can be mitigated until the brain ignores the noise until it doesn’t become annoying.

Using soothing sounds or listening to soft music can also help the elderly with mental health problems and stress. Studies have shown that music therapy can help the elderly fall asleep more easily, and it has also been used to treat depression in them.

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ELDERLY’S VISION

What do the eyes of the elderly see?

Naturally, as people age, they begin to develop vision problems such as presbyopia. It is an early condition that causes vision and reading problems to begin, followed by a deterioration of the cornea known as cataract. Different types of cataracts occur on the cornea, causing blurred or disturbed vision patterns. The most common in the elderly is glaucoma. Various abnormalities arising from degenerative conditions of the body make the overall appearance of the elderly appear abnormal.

V2

Researching user interfaces the elderly are familiar with at their age, it is found that user interfaces that are used with today’s popular screen-type digital devices such as smartphones or tablets are unable to use all gestures that the elderly are familiar with. It is an observation that the user interface in the modern era of 1920 to 1960 looks like a spindle, whether it is a twist or even a dialing phone. That is because technology in those days still relies on the spindle to control. It’s different from modern technology that uses buttons or taps. Smartphones or tablets are still unable to implement this kind of rotation. It only simulates finger-drag rotation on the screen, which cannot be replicated in realistic rotation gestures. Therefore, we are looking forward to the next technology that is becoming popular in the future such as VR, MR, AR or Motion Capture to be a technology that is closer to the elderly. We can therefore develop such gestures for the elderly to use.

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Simulating gestures, pressing buttons that are familiar to the elderly

V3

Hearing problems in the elderly

Tinnitus

It’s a disease that can occur for a variety of reasons. But if it happens to the elderly, it is often a degenerative symptom of the inner ear that follows age, such as degeneration of the inner ear hair cells. The most common symptom is hearing a high-pitched, insect-like sound like a cricket chirping. It makes the elderly feel annoyed, anxious, and is a source of mental health problems.

Ears Disorder

They elderly with special hearing impairments such as deafness are the most common deterioration of the physical condition and tend to be progressively more common. Some elderly people need hearing aids. If the elderly have an ear disorder but can still hear, which may be listening with a hearing aid or may still be able to hear the sound on one side, we can still use audio media with this group of elderly people. But if the elderly can’t listen at all, they need to use other user interfaces.

It can be helpful to use the sound at a higher volume or have the elderly listen in a side that the ear is still normal. But the use of the visual user interface should also be taken into account. This group should be encouraged to focus on the use of visual and tactile user interfaces rather than the use of voice.

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DIGITAL TOOL

A digital action suite to create user interfaces for the elderly

Disseminating knowledge in user experience and user interfaces design for the elderly, in addition to knowledge in written or recorded form, we have developed a digital tool open to designers and the general public to use the knowledge from the research to become concrete. We use a tool called a digital action suite to create a user interface for the elderly that is an online website format. www.uiuxforelderly.com. The website is divided into two important sections.

User Interface Element Library (UI Element Library)

It is a material of a user interface that designers can download for designing all digital media such as smartphones and websites. There are filters by design category. This section is considered to be pre-production for designers to choose.

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Sample image from the website

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Simulator

It is the image processing system of the picture base. There is a system for checking and converting images to simulate the vision of the elderly by using tools that put images through image processing. This is considered post-production that allows designers to take the designed work for review.

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Sample image from the website

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Initial Trial

Prototype ideas for creating applications for the elderly

In this research, the usability has been tested by having designers try to accept the problem of creating an application prototype and then test it with the elderly. It was found that using the website can generate many more ideas for creating media and products for the elderly in the future. Some of the works were asked by elders and caregivers when to be created and used in real life because they want to use it.

An example of an application prototype that emerged from the use of digital action suite to create a user interface for the elderly and some assessments

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Story recording application prototype

For the age of 60-69

Assessment from the elderly

“Easy to understand, not complicated. No need to enter many steps. The text is easy to read, very large and the layout is organized, smooth, and easy to understand.” Overall, the elderly says the design is easy to understand. The colors and designs are very colorful. They suggest additional functions such as setting reminders because their main problem is forgetting to take pills. They wanted the news section to include a broader range of topics covering how to take care of the elderly’s health. Recently, there is a story about Covid 19. It should be included in the application as well.

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Checkers application prototype for seniors

For the age of 60-69

Assessment from the elderly

“Readable. Buttons are clearly visible. All can be read.” But they may not understand some words. For example they don’t know what waiting room 1 is. But they tried to figure out which button should be pressed. They knew right away where the start button is. The checkers table looks familiar as checkers but the game of checkers can be difficult for some old people. The table may be too small or some people may not be able to play and do not understand certain words what will happen if they press. For example, “choose another game,” it means another game on our device or this application has another game.

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Medicine reminder application prototype

For the age of 70-79

Assessment from the elderly

The elderly immediately understand that the content of medicine use is beneficial to the elderly. They can use it comfortably and say, “The letters are big and clear. Colors are clearer and easier to see than any other app they’ve ever used. Buttons are clearer. It is a design that fits and is easy to understand with beautiful colors. And if it’s a real application, it should add a function about the health history of the elderly themselves such as kidney values and blood pressure in case they want to use the application to see a doctor.”

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Application for help

For the age of 80 and over

Assessment from the elderly

Elderly people can read letters and see pictures. But since it is a group of the elderly who have never used any digital media before, they are quite afraid to use it. But if we let them use it, they can use it accordingly. The elderly understand an icon and can tell what that icon is and what it is used for. The elderly say, “Colors are beautiful, even if they see distorted colors such as purple as blue, but the elderly feel that the color is just right.”

Tent Card

1. Due to the COVID-19 situation, we must be careful. For the good health of all visitors, please wash your hands with alcohol gel before and after touching the device.
2. Please do not destroy public property. Do not write on any part of the exhibition other than the paper provided.
3. Inside the building, there are CCTV cameras. Any theft or destruction of any part of the exhibition will be prosecuted.

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If you were to design an application for the elderly, how would you design it? What’s the content about?

Pick up the WIREFRAME sheet > Draw it > Paste it on the board

Finally, if you have any additional suggestions, you can drop them in this box.

H

Exhibition from thesis research

Digital User Interface Design Tools Development for Elderly

By

Pitchaya Nilrungratana

PhD student

Assistant Professor Dr. Atithep Chaetnalao

Advisor

Ph.D. Program

Department of Design

Faculty of Decorative Arts

Silpakorn University

The exhibition was designed by

ZLAPDASH STUDIO CO., LTD.

The exhibition structure was designed by

DD SPACE CO., LTD

Thank you OPENSPACE@TCDC 

The exhibition is part of the project Open Space @TCDC, which allows creative people to express their potential through showcases and a variety of creative activities.