title: Modeling the oldest old: personas to design technology-based solutions for older adults.
abstract: There is a recognized need to develop information technology for the delivery of care services to older adults. However, little attention has been paid to the design of information technology for the oldest old demographic. We made novel use of data from observations, focus groups and cluster analysis of oldest old participant characteristics from a pilot study in a community setting to iteratively construct personas for the design of information technology for the oldest old. The resulting two personas, "Hazel" and "Rose", capture different abilities of members of the oldest old demographic group. In addition, we provide a list of eleven design recommendations to guide the design of technology that supports the abilities of people like Hazel and Rose. The resulting personas, design recommendations and persona construction method can be useful tools for informaticians and designers of new systems for the oldest old.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Blaine
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reeder
authors.forename: Oleg
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zaslavksy
authors.forename: Katarzyna M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Wilamowska
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Demiris
authors.forename: Hilaire J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003197:Computer Literacy; D054626:Consumer Health Information; D005260:Female; D005853:Geriatrics; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008490:Medical Informatics; D010865:Pilot Projects; D014584:User-Computer Interface