Assisting the Aging: Felton Institute Zuriel Manalo | DES 505 | SU 2021
Abstract:
The intention of this study is to help improve the website for the Felton Institute Tech Squad. When it comes to their target audience, they hope for it be inclusive to all including those who want to help as well as aging individuals to utilize it to their advantage. According to the Administration on Aging, 20 percent of the United States population will consist of older adults by 2030. Within this increasing population of aging individuals (60 years old and older), many of them are coming online by an estimated growth rate of 15% per year. This is due to the many resources and services available online that can help improve the quality of life of those at an aging state. Certain technologies can help these individuals live an independent lifestyle. However, the connection between aging communities and technology can be confusing and troublesome to most. Institutions such as Felton are there to support these communities. Felton has numerous resources such as slideshows, pamphlets and online classes to help older people use technology but their website struggles when delivering it to their audience.
Table of Contents Chapter One
Chapter Three
7. Introduction 8. Problem & Purpose 9. Preliminary Research 10. Significance of Study 11. Assumptions 12. Scope of Limitation 13. Possible Hypotheses 14. Chapter Conclusion
29. Proposed Solution/Parameters 30. Inspirations 31. Comparative Analysis 34. Mapping Matrix 35. Early Concept
Chapter Two 19. Research Methodology 20. Survey Findings 21. Users, Beneficiaries, Stakehol. 22. Personas 22. Storyboard 24.PERT Chart 25. Panel of Experts 26. Working Hypothesis 27. Chapter Conclusion
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Chapter One
Introduction: With an increasing population within the aging communities (60 years old and older), many of them prefer to age in place and continue to live independently. Certain technologies can help these individuals live an independent lifestyle. However, the connection between aging communities and technology can be confusing, and institutions such as Felton are there to support these communities.
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Problem:
The digital world continues to progress at a rapid pace and aging communities need help and support on how to utilize it for their benefit.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study is to design a website concept for the Felton Institute that connects aging individuals to their resources that could help support and enhance their use of web services.
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Preliminary Research: • “The Web is being accessed by a vast number of older adults, one of the main factors for this are adults 60 years or more are using the Web to gain access to an increasing number of resources” • “The amount of perceived light for a 60 year old is reduced by two thirds when compared to a 20 year old (Weale, 1961). The implication of this is for many older adults, foreground and background color combinations that are similar in hue or low in saturation may render a web page visually inaccessible.” • Small font (8pt to 10pt) is inaccessible to anyone with poor vision, a common disability with aging.
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Significance of Study: With such a rapid progression in technology, often older individuals fall behind in keeping themselves up to date as to what kind of technology is available to them. Not to mention during this recent stay at home order, aging individuals continued to feel even more self-isolated as Facetime or Zoom calls were a safer, yet difficult route. Felton is working towards helping these certain individuals so they can get the support they need when it comes to utilizing technology. Thus, aging individuals will no longer feel left behind from the digital world.
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Assumptions: Most aging individuals would prefer to stray away from the internet, computers, phones, as it seems to only be a distraction from the real world. However, that is only because they do not have the proper knowledge.
Aging communities include individuals from age 60 years and over.
Seniors feel a sense of exclusion when it comes to the digital world.
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Scope of Limitation: This is not a redesign of the entire Felton Institute website. The Felton Institue provides many other resources and services, not just for the aging communities. The primary focus is on their Senior Division, who is primarily ran by Edith Yamanoha, an expert who will provide support and guidance in this project. It is also important to note that this design is primarily working towards being used for their existing aging clients as well as new users. However, the design will be constantly be checked and assured by Felton’s Communication department in order to properly meet their needs as well which ultimately leads to the need of their users.
Possible Hypotheses: If Felton’s Tech Squad could provide resources/deliverables that connect the aging community to their services, then these aging people within the community could use such services and bridge the digital gap. If aging individuals were taught/shown how to use websites/online resources such as WebMD, Postmates, etc., then they would be able to utilize these resources to benefit their lives. If caretakers were given effective resources on how to teach another person how to use certain technologies, then they could properly and effectively teach patients/aging individuals.
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Conclusion:
In this chapter, it has presented the problem in which aging individuals are continuing to feel excluded from resources within the internet. With the presented problem as well as the development of three possible hypotheses, further steps shall be taken to solidify the problem and ultimately develop a proposed solution.
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Timeline
Week 2 Present Problem/Purpose Statements w/ Assets Group Personas/Scenarios Create Timeline Create Survey
Week 1 Blog Post Class introduction Critique 3 Past Projects Identify 3 Research Problems
Week 4
Week 6
Week 8
Meeting w/ Professor Gomes MIDTERM Presentation Submit Midterm Report
Work on project Design Prototype ...
Submit Final Report/Book Submit Poster
Week 3
Week 5
Week 7
Final Problem Purpose/Purpose Statements w/ 10 Parts to Research Proposal Interview Experts
Work on Project Branding ...
Final Presentation
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PERT Chart study research Define problem and purpose staements
decision
• • • • • •
Interviews Surveys Web Reports Personas W3C Standards sectrion 508
• • • •
Hypotheses Research Method Comparative Analysis Assumptions
refine/organize data
midterm-review final
Review past 505 Projects • Process book • Refine final iteration • Recieve user feedback
prototype mockup • Wireframes • Ideation • Construct
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Chapter Two
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Research Methodologies • Online Resources such as Journals accessed from the SFSU Library, articles, graphs, that record data on food waste • Literature Resources • Researching the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards • Referencing the Section 508 Compliance • Identifying target users • Surveys • Interviewing/Working with a panel of experts • Identifying users/stakeholders/beneficiaries • Developing personas to empathize with user needs • Comparative analysis of existing websites designed for aging users • Mapping Matrix
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Survey Findings • When older adults were asked whether they had heard of the Felton Institute, more than of them (7/10 surveyed) have stated Probably Not. • When asked if older adults felt comfortable navigating the overall web, the answers ranged from “Extremely uncomfortable” to “Neither comfortable norcomfortable” At this point in the project, the survey is being reworked and improved in order to address web design and users more directly. Previous questions have served as more vague. Some example questions on this new survey will include “Which search bar function do you prefer?” along side an image.
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Users, Beneficiaries, & Stakeholders Users: The targeted users for this project are primarily aging individuals. This includes Felton’s existing clientele along with new users interested in receiving support from Felton. Beneficiaries: This will include the city of San Francisco where Felton Institute is primarily based in. The overall Tech Squad and their volunteers will certainly benefit from a new website. Stakeholders: This could include affiliated partners working with Felton such as The Community Tech Network and other partners.
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Personas:
Rosa is a 65 year-old mother. She’s the mother of two sons and one daughter. She is on her last year of working at a daycare but she still has to learn curriculums online. She has a lot of trouble operating a laptop, especially since it is an older model.
Dawn is a 79 year-old grandmother who lives with her son and daughter in law. Often times, she wish she could communicate with them but she does not have a smart phone. She does have a family computer to use, however, she does not know how she could connect with her grandchildren.
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Personas:
Cathy is a 30 year-old woman who works at a retirement home as a caretaker. When it comes to helping patients, she really tries to make them feel comfortable. Situations such as wanting to use a computer could come up and she needs to be ready to effectively help her patients.
Gene is a 65 year-old veteran who resides in San Diego, California. He attends an online adult-school where he learns various subjects such architecture or accounting. Switching from web program to web program, he faces trouble on how to use each one.
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Storyboard:
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Panel of Experts
Edith Yamanoha
Joy Zhan
Anita Wilhelm
Edith is the Program Manager of Felton’s Aging Services. She continues to work with SF State students in guiding their projects to meet the needs of their elderly clientele.
Joy is the Program Coordinator for the Tech Squad. She knows exactly what elements of the web design are vital when being accessible to an aging user. She strongly believes in bridging communication gaps.
Anita is an SF State Professor and Designer who has worked on numerous UX projects. Her knowledge and expertise in UX research as well as her skillset in heuristic evaluations will be valuable in this design project.
Felton Program Manager, Aging Services Senior Division
Felton Program Coordinator, Tech Squad
SFSU Professor, UX Research and Design
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Working Hypothesis: If Felton’s Tech Squad could provide resources that support the aging through an accessible website, then aging people could improve their digital literacy and benefit from web services.
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Conclusion: Chapter 2 dives into the research process of the overall project in order to gain a better understanding of the problem as a result support the development of a solution. The overall research found that one of the most important aspects when it comes to accessibility with an aging user is effective methods of navigation. Additionally, the research has outlined the necessary steps when it comes to developing a design solution.
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Chapter Three
Proposed Solution: To design Felton Tech Squad’s website to be more accessible to older adults and serve as their gateway to supportive resources as well as to the digital world overall.
Project Parameters: • Primary focus on accessibilit • Follow guidelines from resources such as the W3C and Section 508 Compliance • An effective way for users to navigate • Overall, design an effective user experience
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Inspirations
Pros: Cons: • Establishes a professional look • Search bar may be hard to find for through visual hierarchy unfamiliar users • Helpful images • Various text sizes for headings/subheadings • Menu minimizes confusion
Comparative Analysis:
Pros: • Accessible • Provides Google Translate • Establishes Visual Hierarchy • Contrast in Colors
Cons: • Text heavy • Looks intimidating to users • Navigation is difficult
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Comparative Analysis:
Pros: • Contrast in color • Helpful navigation bar • Great amount of services and resources
Cons: • Text may be too small for older adults • No contrast in scale of text • No menu
Comparative Analysis:
Pros: • Large text • Large navigation bar • Phone number for support is provided right away • Buttons/clickable elements are clearly communicated
Cons: • Lack of contrast in text within the body • Missing search bar
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Mapping Matrix:
Effective
Target Area
Accessible
Inaccessible
Ineffective
Early Concept:
• • • • • •
Concept Tech Squad Website Created a separate menu Provide resources in one section Contrast the background Might not be a realistic possibility Would mean changing entire website’s navigation
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Appendix: Referenced Survey Questions:
Bibliography
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• Curran, Kevin, and David Robinson. “An Investigation into Web Content Accessibility Guideline Conformance for an Aging Population.” International Journal on ELearning, vol. 6, no. 3, 2007, pp. 333-349. ProQuest, http://jpllnet.sfsu.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.jpllnet.sfsu.edu/scholarly-journals/investigation-into-web-content-accessibility/docview/210365284/se-2?accountid=13802. • “DIGITAL LITERACY: SUCCESSFUL AGING IN THE DIGITAL SOCIETY.” The Gerontologist 55.Suppl_2 (2015): 731. Web. • Etcheverry, Isabelle, Baccino, Thierry, Terrier, Patrice, Marquié, Jean-Claude, and Mojahid, Mustapha. “Age Differences in Information Finding Tasks: Performance and Visual Exploration Strategy with Different Web Page Layouts.” Computers in Human Behavior 28.5 (2012): 1670-680. Web. • “Older Adults’ Perceived Sense of Social Exclusion from the Digital World.” Taylor & Francis, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03601277.2019.1574415. • Prodromou, M, and Lavranos, G. “Identifying Latent Needs in Elderly Digital Literacy: The PROADAS Study.” European Journal of Public Health 29.Supplement_4 (2019): European Journal of Public Health, 2019-11-01, Vol.29 (Supplement_4). Web. • “Resources to Bridge the Digital Divide Among Older Adults.” Resources Bridging the Digital Divide Among Older Adults | California Department of Aging - State of California, aging.ca.gov/covid19/Digital_Divide/. • Sacker, Amanda, Ross, Andy, MacLeod, Catherine A, Netuveli, Gopal, and Windle, Gill. “Health and Social Exclusion in Older Age: Evidence from Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study.” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (1979) 71.7 (2017): 681-90. Web.
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• Schreurs, Kathleen, Quan-Haase, Anabel, and Martin, Kim. “Problematizing the Digital Literacy Paradox in the Con text of Older Adults’ ICT Use: Aging, Media Discourse, and Self-determination.” Canadian Journal of Communication 42.2 (2017): 359-77. Web. • “Senior Intervention Hotline for Crisis Support Services: IOA Friendship Line.” Institute on Aging, 9 Dec. 2020, www.ioaging.org/services/all-inclusive-health-care/friendship-line. • Tam, Sabrina, et al. “Home.” Community Tech Network, www.communitytechnetwork.org/. • “Tech Squad.” Felton Institute, felton.org/social-services/seniors/techsquad/. • Xavier, André J, D’orsi, Eleonora, De Oliveira, Cesar M, Orrell, Martin, Demakakos, Panayotes, Biddulph, Jane P, and Marmot, Michael G. “English Longitudinal Study of Aging: Can Internet/e-mail Use Reduce Cognitive Decline?” The Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 69.9 (2014): 1117-121. Web.
