The Seniornett Project
by Sidsel Bjørneby
The SENIORNETT project was about user aspects of Internet that
are success criteria or create problems in relation to human factors
aspects of elderly people. The project ran from 20 October till
31 December 1998 and was carried out by Human Factors Solutions
in Oslo, Norway for the organisation Seniornett Norge. The users
involved in the research were elderly Internet users at a library
in Oslo.
The research was done as a pilot for a main project in year 1999
and 2000, where user interface will be developed as an iterative
process, and where parallel research will identify effects on
the communication patterns of elderly people on the Internet.
The rapidly growing number of elderly people, and the interest
they show in using the Internet is the background for starting
the organisation Seniornett Norge in 1997, with the aim of increasing
the participation of elderly people in the information society.
After some user trials the organisation wanted to create their
own gateway to world wide web through a web site where elderly
people could feel more confident than when entering regular web
sites. Human Factors Solutions was asked to help them with this,
and www.seniornett.no was established early in 1998. Contents
are created and links mostly identified by a group of 18 active,
resourceful elderly Internet users, who are divided into five
groups according to topics.
The aims of project:
- Identification of aspects of Internet as a baseline for developing
interfaces and contents which are adapted to the functional needs
of elderly people.
- Identification of types of networks where elderly can and want
to communicate on the Internet.
- Identification on relevant web information on Internet interface
for elderly and disabled users.
- Start the design of a web site that can be a good example of web
sites adapted to the functional problems of elderly people.
Methods:
- Structured discussions with elderly Internet users about their
opinions and experiences.
- Questionnaire to elderly Internet users.
- Internet search for relevant web sites
- Contact with organisations of handicapped people to find potential
similarities between their use of Internet as compared to the
Internet use of elderly people
- Contact Nordic and European web sites for elderly people to identify
interest in common future projects.
Identified User Aspects and Attitudes
Age related changes of relevance to Internet are mostly within
visual, sensory and cognitive abilities. These are not identified
as handicaps by the users themselves, but rather as normal changes
that affect their use of the Internet, and that requires specific
adaptations to the web sites designed for them. These aspects
need to be taken into account when developing web sites accessible
to elderly people.
The overall experience and attitude of elderly people to the Internet
is positive. They enjoy being able to take part in modern aspects
of life, and to have the opportunity to collect information and
to communicate on the Internet and with e-mail. They demonstrate
a curiosity and courage to take the Internet into use which far
extends the expectations of society at large.
Contact with Senior Web Sites for Nordic and EU Co-operation
Positive contact is established with senior web sites in Norway,
Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy. There is a Norwegian
group of elderly in Spain that are interested in contact/ co-operation.
As a result of the contact with organisations for handicapped
people, it was agreed that it is possible with synergy effects
on many points of interface design, but that the actual sites
are better kept separate.
Future activities
A main project is planned as a result of this little project,
in order to achieve the aims of creating user interface and contents
adapted to elderly Internet users. Firstly the project will be
started in Norway, in close cooperation with elderly Internet
users, but the aim is to include the work in further research
in a project under Creating a User Friendly Information Society
within EU’s Fifth Framework Programme. This project will include
two parallel activities:
- an iterative development process regarding user interfaces of
Internet for the elderly
- researching the effects of Internet communication on elderly people.
The communication effects will be studied within different groups
of elderly (geographically, more and less resourceful, within
interest areas), between generations and between elderly people
and society. The research is planned to be carried out by Human
Factors Solutions, in cooperation with elderly users of Internet,
the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Oslo, The Norwegian
research centre NOVA and the potential European partners.
Please contact:
Sidsel Bjørneby - Human Factors Solutions
Tel: +47 22 42 18 57
E-mail: sidsel@hfs.no
