User interface for social networking application for the elderly

Elderly people with no or limited skills of using computers are in risk of social isolation as social life moves to the Internet. This paper describes the design process and implementation of a user interface and device for the elderly for a social networking application. The idea is that people with no previous experience on using computers are able to use the device immediately and that the device is not considered to be a computer. An iterative and user-centred design process is used to ensure that all the needs and views from the users are taken into account. The user interface and the device have been tested in long lasting field trials and the results are presented in this paper. Based on the results the implemented device seems to qualify the needs of elder users.