title: Applications of Paper and Interactive Prototypes in Designing Telecare Services for Older Adults.
abstract: We present the results of the user studies of the CareMe prototype telecare service for supporting older adults with remote telecare services. The CareMe solution targets older adults who are capable of living independently and outside of a dedicated medical institution or a nursing home, but require occasional medical attention, and formal or informal care. The studies were conducted between November 2013 and March 2014 and followed the participatory design approach. The research questions focused on understanding the difference in the participatory design approach when older adults use paper prototypes vs interactive prototypes, and the difference when older adults use interactive prototypes with poor interface design vs interactive prototypes with rich interface design. In total, 45 older adults living in Slovenia participated in the field trial. They were retired, 32 of whom were nursing home residents and 13 were living independently at home. The study sample's age distribution was between 64 and 91 years. The analysis of the filed trial results indicated the importance of the factors that influence users' decision about how and when they use new technology, i.e., the perceived usefulness and the perceived ease-of-use. Main insights gained from the studies show, that it is very difficult to keep older people focused on the topics of discussion and that they have often difficulties to clearly present/express their ideas. Furthermore, abstract concepts, such as paper only prototypes proved to be challenging to cope with, whereas using real applications and services when trying out scenarios using interactive prototypes provided much better experience and feedback.
authors: Faculty of Electrical engineering, ICT Department, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška cesta 25, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia. emilija.stojmenova@ltfe.org.
authors: Emilija Stojmenova
authors: ES
authors: Duh
authors: Faculty of Electrical engineering, ICT Department, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška cesta 25, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors: Jože
authors: J
authors: Guna
authors: Faculty of Electrical engineering, ICT Department, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška cesta 25, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors: Matevž
authors: M
authors: Pogačnik
authors: Faculty of Electrical engineering, ICT Department, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška cesta 25, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors: Jaka
authors: J
authors: Sodnik
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000458:organization & administration; D017524:Slovenia; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: CareMe; Interactive prototypes; Older adults; Paper prototypes; Participatory design; Telecare services