Looking Beyond the Screen to Study the Technology Use of Older People Experiencing Cognitive Concerns

Paper Title

Looking Beyond the Screen to Study the Technology Use of Older People Experiencing Cognitive Concerns

Publication Info

• Topic area: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and aging-related cognitive concerns in technology use.
• Keywords: Older adults, cognitive concerns, videoconferencing, distributed cognition, technology use, aging, accessibility, user-centered design, paper-based objects, built environment.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Existing HCI research primarily focuses on the interface design of technologies for older adults, neglecting the role of objects outside the interface that support technology use, especially for individuals with cognitive concerns.
• Significance: Understanding how objects beyond the interface contribute to technology use can inform better design for older adults, enabling them to engage in activities like videoconferencing despite cognitive challenges.
• Motivation and related work: Prior studies have noted the presence of non-technological elements in technology use but treated them as fringe findings. This paper builds on these observations, focusing on the role of objects in videoconferencing for older adults with cognitive concerns, addressing gaps in understanding their broader material environment.

Solution

• Proposed approach: A week-long study involving interviews, observations, and a modified diary study with ten older adults experiencing cognitive concerns, focusing on the objects they interact with during videoconferencing.
• Novelty:
  1. Identifying a wide range of objects beyond hardware and software that support videoconferencing.
  2. Demonstrating how these objects assist cognition by holding information, distributing effort across time, and leveraging spatial affordances.
  3. Applying a distributed cognition lens to analyze the interaction between cognitive processes and material environments.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Participants documented objects they interacted with during videoconferencing using Polaroid cameras, sticky notes, and corkboards.
  • Researchers conducted two in-person interviews, an observation session, and analyzed diary entries to identify object categories and their cognitive roles.
  • Reflexive thematic analysis was used to interpret data, emphasizing object affordances and distributed cognition principles.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Participants interacted with 281 objects categorized into seven main types: hardware, software/web platforms, paper-based objects, personal items, built environment, pets/animals, and weather.
  • Objects supported cognition by holding semantic and time-related information, enabling effort distribution across time (e.g., preparation and externalization), and leveraging spatial affordances (grabbable, glanceable, switchable).
• Advantage over baselines:
  • The study highlights overlooked aspects of technology use, such as the role of non-technological objects, which are not typically addressed in interface-focused HCI research.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Participants were observed during videoconferencing sessions and documented their object interactions through diary studies. Reflexive thematic analysis was applied to identify patterns and themes.
  • Data included interviews, field notes, photographs, and diary boards, providing a comprehensive view of object use.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Lack of data on social partners who may assist participants.
  • Limited diversity in participant demographics and cognitive conditions.
  • Future studies could focus on specific types of videoconferencing activities and explore collaborative dimensions of technology use.

Summary

This study investigates how older adults with cognitive concerns use objects beyond the interface during videoconferencing. It identifies seven categories of objects and demonstrates their cognitive roles, such as holding information, distributing effort across time, and leveraging spatial affordances. Using a distributed cognition lens, the research highlights opportunities for designing technologies that account for the broader material environment. Findings suggest that focusing on objects outside the interface can improve accessibility and usability for older adults, supporting their engagement in remote synchronous communication.