How to Help Older Adults Learn Smartphone Applications? A Case Study of Instructional Design for Video Training

Abstract

Video training is a useful way for older adults to learn to use smartphone applications, but the instructional design of adapting age-related changes is necessary to improve learning effectiveness. This study investigates the influence of visual cues and tapping methods on older adults’ intention to use, ease of learning, satisfaction, and task completion time when learning how to use smartphone applications through instructional videos. Twenty-four older adults learned smartphone applications using two tapping methods (the tapping with/without validation method) on three types of instructional videos with different visual cues (red rectangle, cartoon finger, and real finger). The results indicated that use of a cartoon finger contributed to higher intention to use, higher ease of learning, higher satisfaction, and shorter task completion time compared with use of a red rectangle or a real finger. Moreover, older adults preferred the tapping with validation method rather than that without validation method. These findings will be a useful reference for designers of instructional videos and developers of smartphones.