An Analitic Approach to Evaluate Flexible Mobile User Interfaces

for the Elderly

Vinícius P. Gonçalves

, Vânia P. A. Neris

, Jó Ueyama

and Sibelius Seraphini

Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of São Paulo, 13566-590, São Carlos-SP, Brazil

Department of Computing, Federal University of São Carlos, 13565-905, São Carlos-SP, Brazil

Keywords: Evaluation, Specialists, Tailorable Interfaces, Flexibility, Cell Phone, Elderly.

Abstract: It is necessary to provide interfaces that meet the highest possible number of elderly users, regardless of

their sensory, physical, cognitive and emotional abilities. Although the literature reports research related to

interaction diversity and tailorable interfaces, there are few studies on methods and techniques to evaluate

adjustable interfaces. This paper presents an analytical approach based on the evaluation of flexible mobile

user interfaces for the elderly. A case study with evaluation experts applied this approach to an executable

prototype, and the impressions of the evaluators about this structure were highlighted.

1 INTRODUCTION

The average life expectancy worldwide increased

from 48 in the early 1950s to 68 in the first decade

of the new millennium (UN, 2010). According to a

document issued by the United Nations (UN, 2010),

there are currently 893 million people over the age

of 60 in the world. This number will nearly triple to

2.4 billion by the middle of this century. According

to Nielsen (2011), many elderly people in

industrialized countries are active. Although they are

usually retired, they lead a dynamic life and often

have great interest in modern technologies, as for

instance smartphones. This study also shows that

18% of the elderly population use smartphones, and

that there was a 6% increase in the purchase of these

devices between 2010 and 2011.

Thus, it is necessary to provide interfaces that

meet the highest possible number of elderly users,

regardless of their sensory, physical, cognitive and

emotional abilities. One way is to propose user

interfaces that allow changes in their behavior

during the interaction, giving each user the

possibility to adapt the interface according to their

preferences, needs and intended use (Neris and

Baranauskas, 2010). Therefore, flexibility refers to

changes regarding the presentation of the interface

elements, namely changes in color, size and window

position, as well as changes in the order of

interaction actions. Within this flexibility context, an

interface can be seen as adaptable when it performs

adaptations when the user requires them. Therefore,

the interface that allows users to define, start, select

and produce the adaptation, as well as leaving the

system to perform some of these functions, is called

an adaptable interface. However, the interfaces

which show the aforementioned behavior, but whose

initial interacting with the flexible interface is done

automatically, that is, initiated by the system, are

called adaptive interfaces (Henricksen and Indulska,

2001).

It should be noted that although there are some

studies in the literature related to flexible mobile

design applications for the elderly user (Gonçalves,

Neris and Ueyama, 2011; Olwal, Lachanas and

Zacharouli, 2011), little is found on the evaluation of

these applications. Thus, this paper presents an

analytical approach for evaluating flexible mobile

user interfaces for the elderly. The proposed

approach was evaluated in a feasibility study in

which mobile user interfaces for seniors with low

and high education were inspected. The results

suggest that the proposed approach enables to

identify problems in flexible interfaces, quickly and

inexpensively, as another discount inspection

method.

2 THE PROPOSED APPROACH

Unlike conventional applications, for developing

tailorable systems, the designers must predict the

P. Gonçalves V., P. A. Neris V., Ueyama J. and Seraphini S..

An Analitic Approach to Evaluate Flexible Mobile User Interfaces for the Elderly.

DOI: 10.5220/0003999900910096

In Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS-2012), pages 91-96

ISBN: 978-989-8565-12-9

 2012 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

different use possibilities, including the progress of

users and using them on different devices and

environments. In order to support the evaluation of

tailorable interfaces, this research presents an

analytical approach that supports the evaluation of

flexible interfaces on mobile phones within the

context of the elderly.

Considering that this structure involves the "design

for change" concept, and is rooted in the Universal

Design (Connell, Jones, Mace et al., 1997), it is

important to carefully assess systems that allow

access to knowledge and information.

Figure 1 shows the ideas, techniques and

methods discussed in this proposal which are

organized in four steps, leading to the evaluation of

tailorable interfaces for the elderly public.

2.1 Evaluation Preparation

The goal of the first step is to define how the

evaluation will take place, outlining the objectives

and the hypothesis of inspecting and selecting the

experts that participated in the process. At this point

it is also important to structure the specific heuristics

for this approach through questions to better

illustrate each of these guidelines. And also, define

the locations where the individual and group

activities will take place. Moreover, apply an

adjustable interface pilot test to check for possible

technical problems.

Another important topic of this phase regards

operational issues. The support material with a list of

specific heuristics, the table with the severities and

the table to survey the problems must be defined.

Also required is considering the environment for the

individual assessments and group discussions,

equipment and selection of experts. Finally, a

tailorable interface pilot test has to be applied, when

the specialist conducts the evaluation in order to

verify potential technical problems in the flexible

system.

The specific heuristics structuring for this

approach enriches the analytical process.

Accordingly, questions were elaborated based on the

description of each heuristic, as shown in Table 1.

2.2 Preparation of Evaluators

The goal of the second step is to present the

analytical approach proposed in this paper to the

experts, that is, the flexible interfaces that will be

evaluated and the diversity of the elderly profiles

considered for the evaluation.

In this approach we suggest filling out user

profile information forms (Neris and Baranauskas,

2010). These forms enable to define diversity

regarding the intended use and also about system

domain knowledge (Neris and Baranauskas, 2010).

Furthermore, the material support should be

available to the evaluators, for example, a list of

specific heuristics for the elderly public that uses

cell phones. In this work we used the heuristic

design of Hellman (2007), described in section 2, for

the evaluation context. Also, submit to the experts

the table of severity to be adopted, the instructions

and the table where the problems encountered

should be described.

Figure 1: Analytic approach to evaluate flexible mobile user interfaces for the elderly.

ICEIS2012-14thInternationalConferenceonEnterpriseInformationSystems

2.3 Individual Inspection of Flexible

Interfaces

In this step the specialist performs the assessment

individually, interacting with each of the tailorable

interfaces at least twice, making sure the heuristics

are in fact specific to the elderly. As support

material for evaluation, the experts use a table of

problems with the following fields: violated

heuristics, severity of the problem, where the

problem was found and a description.

Therefore, at this stage the assessor assumes the

position of each elderly user profile and carefully

inspects the adjustable interfaces. With the outcome

of this inspection activity, each evaluator concludes

the evaluation with tables of problems for the many

profiles.

2.4 Discussion between all Evaluators

The last step of this analytical approach is to

generate a problem report for each tailorable

interface, which results from the discussions topics

addressed by the group of evaluators.

At this structure phase, all the evaluators

participating in the discussion process address the

problems identified during the individual

assessments: the main characteristics of each

adjustable interface; degree of severity of each of the

problems encountered, and finally, based on the

evaluators’ group discussion, a problem report about

the severities is generated for each tailorable

interface.

At this structure phase, all the evaluators

participating in the discussion process address the

problems identified during the individual

assessments: the main characteristics of each

adjustable interface; degree of severity of each of the

problems encountered, and finally, based on the

evaluators’ group discussion, a problem report about

the severities is generated for each tailorable

interface.

3 FEASIBILITY STUDY

The proposal described in this paper is part of the

project of the University of São Paulo, which

conducts research related to the design and

implementation of flexible mobile user interfaces for

the elderly. Therefore, the systems that were tested

in the feasibility study use the Lancaster OpenCom

(Ueyama, Pinto, Madeira et al., 2009), a middleware

approach running in Android mobile phones, which

provides the interface changes in interaction time, or

running time if a technical perspective that focuses

on the system is adopted. For profile diversity,

regarding interface change, this flexible system

considered the educated and non-educated elderly

people. The non-educated profile, for example, was

characterized for having little experience with

technology.

Table 1: Specific questions for the evaluation.

Id Heuristics Specific questions for the evaluation

Navigation

and work

flow

Is the navigation identical to the other screens? Is there a way to know if the path taken and the

applications are activated? Is it possible to close the application and return to the system? Is there

too much scrolling?

Error

Message

Are the messages self-explanatory? Are there technical messages to the user? Do the messages

appear instantly? For recurring errors, is there additional information?

Search and

Queries

Are there simple search as default and advanced as options? Is there automatic spell check in the

search?

4 Enter/Exit

Can the action be done using the physical and digital keys? Are there interaction alternatives in the

menu or in the hierarchical lists?

5 Time

Is there time flexibility to perform the task? Does the system adapt to the users time? Is there

adequate feedback?

Text and

language

Can the interaction language be defined? Does the system use abbreviations, foreign, professional

and long texts? Are there spelling problems? Do titles and labels make interaction easier?

Voice and

sound

Are there voice resources for interaction? Does the voice resource start and stop when solicited?

8 Graphics

Does the system make use of opposing colors (ex: red and green)? Can the color scheme be

defined? Do the icons and symbol follow the norms set up?

Figures and

numbers

Are there alternative presentation forms for figures and numbers, such as diagrams or verbal

descriptions?

Help and

Information

Does the system offer help? Is help identical in all screens?

AnAnaliticApproachtoEvaluateFlexibleMobileUserInterfacesfortheElderly

3.1 Evaluation Preparation

For such analytical approach based on the evaluation

of flexible mobile user interfaces for the elderly

public, which initially defined the objectives, the

inspection, hypothesis and methodology to be used

were prepared in order to check the hypothesis.

Hypothesis: based on the interaction

requirements of the elderly population and the

standards set for the design of flexible interfaces

(Gonçalves, Neris and Ueyama, 2011), it is believed

that the use of tailorable interfaces can be a solution

to the preferences, needs and intentions of the

elderly user.

Purpose of Evaluation: check accessibility and

usability problems in the use of flexible solutions of

mobile user interfaces for the elderly.

Methodology Applied: in order to analyze

flexible mobile user interface solutions, a group of

five evaluation experts were invited to perform an

evaluation based on specific heuristics regarding the

elderly public in the use of mobile phones. With this

evaluation it was possible to check whether the

proposed solutions for the diversity context actually

made sense to the interaction requirements of the

elderly.

For this structure, it was necessary to check

operational issues related to evaluation before

starting the evaluation.

Equipment/Environment: the equipment of

LaSDPC was used for the evaluation. For the

evaluation, each expert used a mobile phone

(smartphone), and the examiners conducted

individual evaluations in LIFeS and group

discussions in LInCE.

Support Material: to carry out the evaluation, a

table with specific heuristics, a table with the

severities and a table to survey the problems were

prepared. The table with the specific heuristics for

the elderly public regarding the use of cell phones

had questions related to each heuristic, to assist the

experts in the evaluation. The table with the

severities to be considered in the evaluation has a

scale from 0 (Unimportant) to 4 (Catastrophic).

Finally, the table used to survey the problems was

prepared to help the expert describe the problems

related to each heuristic, attributing one severity to

every problem.

Evaluators: the tests were performed individually

by five evaluators, experts in the evaluation of

interfaces. The group of experts was composed of

masters’ and doctoral students of USP and UFSCar,

that graduated in Design and Evaluation of User

Interfaces and their graduate research work related

to the IHC area, and one of the evaluators is a

master’s student in nursing.

Pilot Test: in the first phase of the proposed

approach in this paper, a pilot test was applied to one

of the evaluators in order to check for possible

technical problems regarding the flexible system.

After defining the hypothesis, objectives and

operational issues of this structure, the evaluation

specialists participating in the process were then

prepared.

3.2 Preparation of Evaluators

At this stage of preparing the evaluators, the

analytical approach for evaluating flexible mobile

user interfaces for the elderly was clarified.

Therefore, the diversity of user profiles to be

analyzed, educated and non-educated users, was

presented to the evaluators, and the profile

considered that non-educated was characterized by

low experience in the use of mobile phones. The

example shown in Figure 2 consists of elderly users’

mobile phone characteristics, considering the

features of the cell phone. The aspects listed regard

eyesight impairment as a physical characteristic,

ease of use as a use purpose and user satisfaction

regarding the cell phone. Moreover, the form has a

general specification, from the simplest to the most

essential characteristics. In the "emotional issues",

for example, impatience for the restless users that

use the mobile phone, and also the lack of curiosity

or interest in manipulating the device for other users,

and also some user’s fear of breaking something

new is highlighted. Thus, the group of evaluators

can have a better understanding of the profiles they

will consider.

Figure 2: Form to characterize the profile of the elderly

group.

To perform the evaluation, a support material

with a list of 10 specific heuristics in cell phone use

for the elderly public was made available to the

ICEIS2012-14thInternationalConferenceonEnterpriseInformationSystems

evaluators (Hellman, 2007). In addition to the

heuristics, the table of severity to be adopted, the

instructions for completing the table and the table

where the evaluators should describe the problems

encountered were submitted to them.

Also at this stage of preparing the evaluator, the

manner of presenting the interface to the experts was

defined: executable prototype of flexible interfaces

(see Figure 3). Next, the evaluator was conducted to

LIFeS to perform their individual evaluation, as

described in the next step of this approach.

(a) (b)

Figure 3: Examples of flexible interfaces evaluated. (a)

Non-educated users, (b) educated users.

3.3 Individual Inspection of Flexible

Interfaces

During the inspection phase, the individual

evaluation was performed, when the expert studied

each of the adjustable interfaces several times (at

least twice) checking whether the heuristics had

been violated. The experts had a table to help them

with the evaluation, filling out the heuristic violated,

the severity of the problem, where the problem was

found and a description.

For this analytical approach the evaluator

assumed the place of each elderly profile user

(educated and not educated) and conducted a careful

inspection of the tailorable interfaces. It was by

defining the flexible interfaces that meet the

requirements of elderly users, that each expert

evaluated the interfaces, at first putting himself in

the role of a lower-educated elderly user (studied up

to 4th grade) evaluating the interface shown in

Figure 3a; and next as an educated elderly user

(studied beyond the fourth grade), evaluating the

interface shown in Figure 3b. It was also considered

that the educated elderly user had some experience

with technology. For each user profile there was a

different interface behavior, which represented a

proof of concept of a set of rules for the adjustable

behavior of the interface, defined by Gonçalves,

Neris and Ueyama (2011).

3.4 Discussion between all Evaluators

The evaluation process is based on the evaluators’

review and on their confidence in their experiments

(Rocha and Baranauska, 2003). The evaluators’

analysis consisted primarily of reporting problems,

based on the assessment, which were not compatible

with the heuristics adopted.

After the individual analysis of the evaluators,

based on the aforementioned heuristics, two

discussions reports with all the evaluators were

generated, and with the first discussion focused on

the tailorable interface for the elderly users with low

schooling, and the second discussion concerning the

tailorable interface focusing on the elderly educated

users.

The last step of the analytical approach

addressed the main characteristics of each tailorable

interface; the problems identified during the

evaluation, the degree of severity of each of the

problems encountered and, lastly, based on the

discussion, a problem report was generated with

their respective severities for each tailorable

interface, so that changes can be then proposed for

the interfaces evaluated.

Figure 4: Issues addressed in the evaluation of the low-

education profile.

With regard to the severity of the problems

raised in the final report, the percentage of

occurrence of problems for each level of severity

was defined. Therefore, as can be seen in the graph

of Figure 4, with the evaluation of flexible interfaces

for the low-education users, a list of 30 problems in

the interface was obtained, of which 42% were

considered simple and 4% regarded as unimportant.

AnAnaliticApproachtoEvaluateFlexibleMobileUserInterfacesfortheElderly

Moreover, the final list for the profile of elderly

users showed 33 had problems, of which 50% were

considered serious and 0% for problems considered

cosmetic and catastrophic, as seen in the graph in

Figure 5.

Figure 5: Problems addressed in the evaluation of the

educated user profile.

5 CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER

WORK

During the feasibility study of the approach

described in this study, it was observed that

evaluation experts of interfaces felt safer in

evaluating flexible interfaces, supported by an

approach that considers the interface change in

interaction time, as one of the reviewers pointed out:

“This is the first time I evaluate flexible interfaces.

Indeed, this approach made me think how important

it is for the result of an assessment, to have a

specific technique for assessing diversity”. The

analytical approach proposed in this paper, based on

the evaluation of flexible mobile user interfaces for

the elderly, brings a set of heuristics for mobile

phones within the elderly population context.

According to one expert: “Specific heuristics made

all the difference in my evaluation. If I had used the

traditional Nielsen’s heuristics during the inspection,

I would not have raised all the issues that I

enumerated”.

In the final phase of the case study, when

discussions are held by the evaluators, one of the

participants in the process emphasized that: “Having

a discussion for each of the types of tailorable

interfaces is major differential in this approach. In

fact, our final report could conceive specific

problems for each of the adjustable interfaces”.

Based on the results presented by the experts’

evaluation, further works could implement an

assessment survey with the elderly users of these

flexible interfaces and perform a comparison with

the results raised by the case study described in this

study.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Colleagues in the LaSDPC-USP, LIFeS-UFSCar e

LInCE-UFSCar. Funding agencies FAPESP (#2008/

05346-4) and CNPq (#474803/2009-0).

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