Decent digital social media for senior life: A practical design approach

Abstract

This research is an anterior project of a pilot study for identifying factors that determine the adoption and usage of digital social network platform services by the elderly population in Taiwan. The aim of this whole design project is to use the methods of ethnography and contextual participatory research to understand the problem space, and then develop a conversational and entertainment social media for elderly people to empower their life. The elderly are often a neglected group in regard to product development and marketing; however, they are the only growing age group in most developed societies. Regarding the report from CEPD, by the year 2016, Taiwan will become an aging society, and it is expected that the aging population will have grown to 35.9% in 2050. Due to the responsibility or a digital media designer/educator, to highly consider the tendencies of an aging society, and ensure a smooth social, entertaining and meaningful lire beyond the physiological, geographic and mobility restrictions, it is essential that a conversational and entertainment context for social relationships are available for them so that they may maintain their vigor. The older people get, the more difficult their adoption of technology is likely to be; they are traditionally considered as being resistant to change. Anxiety reaction appears when new technology product designs fail to target the special requirements of aging people. This research adopted the perspectives of anthropological methodology, and closely examined the target users' behaviors and expectations. In an effort to address the issue of offering the elderly asocial and casual life, this research focused on the problem and solution search, analyzed explicit and implicit problems, both physical and emotional, and integrated them into a better understanding of current problems and needs. After identifying a set of essential issues related to social activities, entertainment, the usage and adoption of a new digital device and digital social media, this research indicated the direction for bridging the gaps between aging people and a digital social media life: the construction of a helpful framework for an ideal conversational and entertainment model of a social media platform.