The purpose of the SENAV project is to establish how much of the results concerning elderly and navigation in the real world can be transferred to the virtual world. The project also examines which aspects of cognition and ageing that are most crucial in computer use and in navigation of large information spaces. Implications for interface design according to age differences with respect to age and with respect to Internet/computer experience are also of interest within the project.
The test domain is on-line food shopping. This is particularly interesting to an elderly group of users as it bears the potential of improving health and life quality for users who are less mobile. Buying groceries through the Internet may contribute to allowing elderly people to continue living in their homes for a longer period.
The project is funded by Vinnova (Swedish Agency For Innovation Systems). The studies performed within the project are conducted in collaboration with SeniorNet Sweden, a non-profit national organisation with the goal of spreading knowledge about computers and Internet applications among Sweden’s senior citizens (55+).
Different interfaces of on-line grocery shops are studied in the project: hypertext interfaces, 3D-interfaces, and 3D-interfaces with different kinds of help based on overview maps.
The results has been reported in:
Sjölinder, Marie, Höök, Kristina, and Nilsson, Lars-Göran (2000). Age differences in the use of an on-line grocery shop - implications for design, CHI'2000 (poster), The Hague, ACM.
Sjölinder, Marie (2000). Aging and cognition in the use of an Internet service. XXVII International Congress of Psychology, Stockholm, July 23-28, 2000.
Results from this first study revealed quite large age differences with respect to time spent on different tasks. The elderly group needed almost twice the time, compared to the younger group, to complete the tasks.
A second study on a 3D-interface is being conducted. The purpose of this study is to examine to what extent an on-line grocery shop that is more similar to a real world grocery shop can facilitate navigation for an elderly user group. In one condition of this study we are also using an overview map of the shop. This to examine whether aids like this will make navigation easier for senior citizens.
Marie Sjölinder, marie@sics.se