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This doctoral study took place at the intersection of care and technology. With research at this intersection increasing, it has become its own field of research. The changes in today’s society, as discussed in Chapter One, further contributed to a rise in studies on care technology in older people (also see Chapter Five). Increasingly detailed guidelines are produced to advise, for example, on interface design for older people (e.g. Fisk et al., 2009). Guidelines that support researchers in carrying out their own usability studies are however scant (Dickinson et al., 2007).

Whereas health and social care have a long history of research in the context of older people, this is a relatively new area in the field of computer sciences. Collecting data from older people might require modifications of the traditional computer science research methods or, certain methods may be less appropriate for use in this population (Dickinson et al., 2007; Eisma et al., 2004).

2.3.1 Older versus younger study participants

Whilst it is recognised that older people are not a heterogeneous population (Moser et al., 2012), the differences in ageing are significant. Compared to the group of participants with which computer scientists and HCI researchers are familiar (i.e. students or young people), older people, for example, demonstrate a

wider range of educational experiences. In addition, many of them do not live close to research institutions, are unfamiliar with university layouts and/or experience mobility issues (Dickinson et al., 2007). Older participants also vary greatly in the amount of free time and flexibility they have. Some have very few obligations, whilst others have a number of roles or responsibilities (e.g. unpaid carer or volunteer) (Dickinson et al., 2007).

Age-related changes (also see section 5.1.3) do not only interfere with older people’s interaction with ICT, they can also impact on the collection of data. For example, a decline in auditory perception can make hearing study instructions difficult; reading the instructions could be burdensome when the participant has visual impairments; loss of fine motor control could make precise tasks (e.g. using a mouse) challenging; and changes in memory and cognition can affect the participant when s/he has to follow steps during an experiment (Dickinson et al., 2007). In addition, it has been demonstrated that older people are anxious or fearful about memory changes (Dickinson et al., 2007). They will need reassurance that errors are normal and to be expected (Dickinson et al., 2007). Different topic areas could be sensitive depending on someone’s age or personal situation. Older people are for example found to be less willing to talk about issues such as social isolation (Eisma et al., 2004). Sensitive topics might also challenge the older person’s identity as an independent person and thus careful consideration of the wording of questions is necessary. At the same time, researchers need to be aware of the possibility that an older person is participating because s/he feels lonely (Eisma et al., 2004).

2.3.2 Collecting HCI data in older people

In terms of collecting data, regularly used methods might pose specific challenges for older people. For example, the use of focus groups has been proven difficult

2004; Malik and Edwards, 2008). A further challenge relates to cultural differences (in this case often generational differences); asking older people to undertake participatory activities to help design, for example a mobile phone, resulted in a design that merely reflected researcher opinions (i.e. expectancy bias or experimenter effect) (Malik and Edwards, 2008). Since older people are often unfamiliar with ‘experimental’ settings they might also try to involve the facilitator or researcher in the experiment (Dickinson et al., 2007) which could result in a response bias. The application of user diaries in experimental studies has also shown difficulties. Learning and understanding the process of experimental studies that involve ICT is already demanding. Older participants often do not have the energy, attention or time left to complete the diaries (Dickinson et al., 2007). When they do, it tends to happen after completion of the tasks and the recall of events might be limited. Generally, older participants need repetition of the task before they can accurately remember the process (Dickinson et al., 2007).

Changes in sight, hearing and short term memory could similarly complicate accurate self-reporting (e.g. questionnaires) (Eisma et al., 2004). However, a recent study pointed out higher accuracy in self-reporting among older people than younger individuals (Ning et al., 2016). Collecting data by letting participants ‘think aloud’ as they go through the tasks, might not be as effective when compared to using such a method with younger cohorts. Thinking aloud interferes with the completion of tasks, especially when they are carried out in unfamiliar interfaces (Dickinson et al., 2007). Dickinson et al. (2005) used a developed version of the ‘think aloud’ method to understand participant perceptions. Allowing older participants to look at a web page first and then re-present it when they are asked to describe it, resulted in higher quality data (Dickinson et al.,2005).

When conducting face-to-face interviews, researchers need to be aware that the duration of the interviews might need last minute, onsite adjustments (Eisma et al., 2004). Older adults might suffer from multiple conditions or lower energy

levels and long interviews could be too exhausting. Telephone interviews leave the older participant with fewer non-verbal cues, which could be a disadvantage for those with hearing problems (Eisma et al., 2004; Malik and Edwards, 2008). Sometimes these issues can be resolved by providing more time, explanation and reassurance. However, researchers need to be aware that not addressing these differences can lead to frustration and confusion. As a result, older participants might withdraw from the study (Dickinson et al., 2007).