Exploring Elderly and Young Users’ Perceptions of Video Exercise on Mobile Fitness Applications

Abstract

Researchers suggested that people have physical activity at home during COVID-19, and mobile applications as easily accessible devices replace face-to-face exercise programs. However, despite a growing number of research focusing on the user experience of mobile applications, we lack evaluating exercise experience with video on mobile fitness applications. This paper explores how different cognitive abilities of elderly and young users manifest during the video exercise on applications. We experimented with 30 participants (15 elderly participants and 15 young participants) from Beijing, China. In addition, we had semi-structured interviews to evaluate their perceptions, resulting in four themes: activity presentation, interface design challenges, sensory preferences, and integration into existing practices. From the findings, recommendations for the design of video exercise on mobile fitness applications were derived. We contribute a better understanding of elderly and young users' perceptions in the context of interactive multimedia exercise training.