3 x 7 Usability Testing Guidelines for Older Adults

There is a large amount of literature on usability tests and guidelines, giving advice on how to plan, conduct, and analyse usability tests in various contexts. However, when it comes to usability for elderly people, little is known on how to prepare and set up such tests. Older adults are a growing user group for technology, and usability for them is of particular importance since they often feel handicapped when interacting with technology developed by young people for young people. Elder people are a special user group who have specific requirements on technology and the interaction with it. The research presented in this paper is based on work performed in the frame of the European project eCAALYX { Enhanced Complete Ambient Assisted Living Experiment. This paper focuses on how the authors conducted usability tests with older adults. From the experience gathered running these tests, the authors derived a set of guidelines on how to run usability tests with and for older adults. These guidelines are the main contribution of this paper and are presented in three groups of seven guidelines each. Thefirst group includes guidelines to enhance user drive and control; the second refers to the test settings and preparation and the third presents considerations on care, communication and listening