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Background
Background
According to a study done by Castro et al. (2020), there is a research gap about the experience of older adults who do not usually use technology. As a result, there is a lack of research on diversity of users' experience.
Goal
Goal
Research goals:
Study older adults in Brazil. Older adults here is operationalized as being 40 years and over.
Pinpoint the features that are needed to design a mobile app to encourage physical activity in low income communities.
Methodology
Methodology
Qualitative focus group study in which participants had to suggest changes to an existing physical app called Pacer.
Number of participants: 17 volunteers
Study design:
Participants divided into two focus groups (physically active and insufficiently active)
Participants were also divided into further sub groups which pertains to their experience with technology. These groupings were digitally engaged and digitally unengaged.
Assessment stages:
Baseline assessment
Focus group with physically active and inactive adults
Design activites with the group to re design the Pacer app. Click on the link below to see the interface of the app.
Results
Results
Castro et al. (2020) reported the following aspects to consider according to the older adults they have interviewed:
Free of charge
Simple interface
Motivational messages using audio and visual information
Sharing information with other users. The participants wanted to share pictures and their fitness milestones or progress with their family and friends.
The other part of the study is the redesign of the Pacer app. The section below shows pictures of the redesigned Pacer app according to the needs of the following four groups listed below. Each group comprises of the participants' level of physical activity and their experience with using technology.
Participants Groupings:
Active and digitally engaged
Active and digitally unengaged
Insufficiently active and digitally engaged
Insufficiently active and digitally unengaged
As a reader, look at what the participants have come up below. Mentally note which features you think has the potential to sell in the current app market for middle aged and older adults.
Active and digitally engaged
Active and digitally engaged
Additional features suggested:
More multimedia input and output (voice and photographs)
Automatic sensing of biodata
Presentation of messages through a personal trainer avatar
App would provide information about environment
It should be a wearable device
Active and digitally unengaged
Active and digitally unengaged
Additional features suggested:
Lose app complexity
It should be in another form of a technological device. The participants do not want to carry their phones all the time.
They want the app to function without the internet. They have concerns with the cost of data connection.
The participants also have concerns about the app upgrading and whether it will be still compatible with the old phones they have.
Exercise demonstrations for the participants to follow.
Insuffienciently active and digitally engaged
Insuffienciently active and digitally engaged
Additional features suggested:
Automatic sensing of a wider variety of data during exercise
More motivational messages with voice and picture output.
An attractive male avatar as the trainer because this group comprised of an all-female participants.
Insufficiently active and digitally unengaged
Insufficiently active and digitally unengaged
Additional features suggested:
The addition of a personal trainer avatar
The inclusion of video demonstrations and pictorial guides to see how to do the movements. They also said this would prevent injury.
Viability of redesigned application
Viability of redesigned application
Interface
Interface
Based on the sample photos provided, the mock up interface from the insufficiently active and digitally unengaged group is the easiest to follow and most comprehensive for the following reasons:
Displays the most common information like the pedometer, calories, and active time.
The menu at the bottom provides the other options in clearly. For example, if the user wants to see the map, they could just tap the green tile at the bottom left of the screen.
The proposed avatar is also displayed near the centre of the screen for easy access.
Hardware design
Hardware design
The suggestion for wearble tech is quite interesting. It is a bit cumbersome to carry phones all the time, however, if they design a wearable tech hardware, the other features like video demonstrating the exercises would not be possible. If designers are keen on developing this kind of technology, they would have to possibly create a different device with the following capabilities:
Hologram like display from the wearable watch that the users wear to project the avatar, example videos for the exercises, and motivational messages by the avatars.
A thinner device like the one shown on the left hand side of this content block.
A smaller wearable device that could be worn on the necks of the users. Phones nowadays can be a bit big and heavy in size.
Internet access
Internet access
Devices today rely heavily on the internet. The suggestion of one of the groups to forgo internet connection may not be feasible in the current market. Without the internet, the developers would have to design a standalone device with everything loaded in it. It would also need a cell service as one of the proposed capabilities would be sharing fitness progress with friends and family.
Cost
Cost
Designing a well functioning application without the end users paying for it does not make sense if a company is trying to make a profit out of these applications. Cost is a major impediment for the participants of this study because they come from low income households. If the future trends does continue to push for application usage, there must be some government intervention to subsidize these kinds of technology to promote equity in access.
Instructional exercise videos
Instructional exercise videos
The following considerations must be taken into account when designing these videos:
Exercises should be designed to cater differences in fitness ability and mobility.
There should be outdoor and indoor set exercises.
Stretching drills before and after workout sessions should be incorporated to prevent injury.
There should be a step by step demonstration of the movements of a particular routine.
There should be a provision of modified movements for the users who have mobility issues.
Designers should think of the kinds of exercises they want to incorporate in these videos. There should be videos showing standalone exercise movements and full on exercise routines that may range from 5 to 20 minute routines.
Before progressing to harder exercise routines, the app must take into account enforcing a level system to ensure the safety of the users.
What's next?
What's next?
This study was done back in 2020. It has been three years and the state of technology has changed so much. AI has now gained so much traction and is dabbling in different sectors.
The next section of this website explores the possible role of AI in this proposed application. Click on the AI impact button below to continue reading.
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