Involving older adults in designing interactive technology: The case of seniorchannel

Because of their specific aging-related needs, older users should be involved when it comes to designing and evaluating devices that target them. While emphasis is usually put only on the accessibility of the final interface to this population, the participatory design and evaluation methods should also be adapted to their needs. This paper aims to contribute to the literature of human-computer interaction for older users by showing-in the context of the development and evaluation of an actual prototype, an interactive television (ITV) for senior citizens within the SeniorChannel project-how design and evaluation methods can be adapted to older users. The paper first describes the strategies that have been reported in human-computer interaction literature to involve older adults in design (i.e., visual prompts, warm-ups, experiencing, hands-on, and natural tasks). It then illustrates the way in which such strategies were implemented in the design and evaluation of SeniorChannel applications (i.e., illustrated material, video clips, tutorials, peer sessions, cards, natural tasks). Finally, the results of the final users' evaluation of the prototypes are reported