Comparison of guidelines in user interface development for smartphone operating systems in relation to the needs of elderly users

Z razvojem mobilnih telefonov so ti postali bolj dostopni z vidika cenovne ugodnosti ter manjše kompleksnosti uporabe. Začenjajo jih uporabljati številne nove skupine uporabnikov, med katere sodijo tudi starejši. Slednji niso homogena skupina uporabnikov v smislu svojih potreb in omejitev pri interakciji z vmesniki in funkcionalnostmi na pametnih telefonih. Mnogi se soočajo z motoričnimi in/ali kognitivnimi izzivi, ki lahko pogojujejo načine njihove uporabe ponujenih funkcionalnosti na pametnih telefonih. Zastavlja se torej vprašanje, v kolikšnimi meri so te njihove potrebe in omejitve upoštevane že v fazi zasnove in razvoja pametnih telefonov. V diplomskem delu se osredotočamo na analizo uradnih smernic za razvoj uporabniških vmesnikov operacijskih sistemov Android in iOS, da bi ugotovili, kako oziroma v kolikšni meri, te smernice upoštevajo specifična priporočila za razvoj starejšim uporabnikom prijaznih vmesnikov na pametnih telefonih. Ugotovili smo, da imajo uradne smernice oblikovanja mobilnih operacijskih sistemov Android in iOS ustrezno razdelana področja za uporabnike s posebnimi lastnostmi (npr. vid, sluh, dotik, miselni modeli), pri čemer pa specifičnih potreb starejših ne naslavljajo zelo neposredno in so zato mestoma tudi precej nedosledne pri njihovi vključiti v obliki priporočil.The ever-evolving technological advancements have made mobile phones more affordable and easy to use. They are being adopted by numerous new groups of users, including the elderly. However, they are not a homogenous group of people in terms of their needs, as well as barriers to use when interacting with user interfaces and other smartphone functions. Many face motor and/or cognitive challenges that limit the usability of the available smartphone functionalities. This raises the question to what degree are the needs and barriers to use of the elderly considered in the development phase of smartphones. In this thesis, we therefore focus on the analysis of official guidelines for development of the Android and iOS Operating systems user interfaces, with the aim of assessing how and to what extent these guidelines consider specific recommendations for designing age-friendly smartphone user interfaces. The results show that official Android and iOS operating systems design guidelines account for users with special needs (sight, hearing, touch, and cognitive impediments) and that the needs of the elderly are not directly addressed. Hence, they also do not always provide coherent guidance in terms of design specifications