Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Living with Smartwatches and Pedometers: The Intergenerational Gap in Internal and External Contexts

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Smart Objects and Technologies for Social Good (GOODTECHS 2017)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore and present the range of commonalities and differences between internal and external contexts that influence elderly and younger users’ intentions to use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) smartwatches and pedometers as motivational tools for physical activity. Therefore, this article follows the contextual action theory and the usability evaluation approach, in which “testing” and “inquiry” were applied to 21 younger participants and 13 fit, elderly participants who were in either the pre-contemplation, contemplation, action, or maintenance behavior-change stage. The results revealed no differences in internal context between the target groups due to both the effect and the useful-ness of the external context. However, there were distinctions between the younger and elderly participants regarding external context, especially in certain aspects of device usability, such as font size, touchscreen interaction, interaction technique, and applications installed, which were the core factors that affected the use of COTS smartwatches and pedometers by the study groups. In addition, the external and internal contexts had a cause-effect relationship, which significantly influenced the use of COTS smartwatches and pedometers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.832159.

  2. 2.

    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.832167.

References

  1. Angelini, L., et al.: Designing a desirable smart bracelet for older adults. In: UbiComp 2013 Adjunct, pp. 425–434 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Asimakopoulos, S., et al.: Motivation and user engagement in fitness tracking: heuristics for mobile healthcare wearables. In: Informatics, vol. 4, no. 1, p. 5 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Charness, N., et al.: Aging and information technology use: potential and barriers. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 18(5), 253–258 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Chodzko-Zajko, W.J., et al.: Exercise and physical activity for older adults. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 41(7), 1510–1530 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Fukuda, R., Bubb, H.: Eye tracking study on web-use: comparison between younger and elderly users in case of search task with electronic timetable service. PsychNology J. 1(3), 202–228 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Gregor, P., et al.: Designing for dynamic diversity: interfaces for older people, Edinburgh, May 2002

    Google Scholar 

  7. Gwizdka, J.: What’s in the context? In: CHI 2000 Work (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Hu, Y.: Motivation, usability and their interrelationships in a self-paced online learning environment. ProQuest Diss. Theses, 158 p. (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  9. International Organization for Standardization: ISO 9241-11: Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) - part 11: guidance on usability. International Organization for Standardization, vol. 1998, no. 2, p. 28 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Ivory, M.Y., Hearst, M.A.: The state of the art in automating usability evaluation of user interfaces. ACM Comput. Surv. 33(4), 470–516 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kanis, H.: Usage centred research for everyday product design. Appl. Ergon. 29(1), 75–82 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Khakurel, J., et al.: Tapping into wearable devices revolution for enterprise use. Inf. Technol. People 1–17 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Leonardi, C., et al.: Designing a familiar technology for elderly people. Gerontechnology 7(2), 151 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  14. McGee-Lennon, M.R., et al.: User-centred multimodal reminders for assistive living. In: Proceedings of 2011 Annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2011, pp. 2105–2114 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Nelson, M.E., et al.: Physical activity and public health in older adults: Recommendation from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. Circulation 116(9), 1094–1105 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Oksman, V.: Young people and seniors in finnish “mobile information society”. J. Interact. Media Educ. 2006, 1–21 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Paz, F., Pow-Sang, J.A.: A systematic mapping review of usability evaluation methods for software development process. Int. J. Softw. Eng. Appl. 10(1), 165–178 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Prochaska, J.O., Velicer, W.F.: The transtheoretical model of health behavior change (1997). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10170434

  19. Rasche, P., et al.: Activity tracker and elderly. In: 2015 IEEE International Conference on Computer and Information Technology; Ubiquitous Computing and Communications; Dependable, Autonomic and Secure Computing; Pervasive Intelligence and Computing, pp. 1411–1416 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Robertson, S.A.: Contemporary Ergonomics 1995, pp. 62–69. Taylor & Francis, Milton Park (1995). https://books.google.fi/books?isbn=0748403280

    Google Scholar 

  21. Siek, K.A., Rogers, Y., Connelly, K.H.: Fat finger worries: how older and younger users physically interact with PDAs. In: Costabile, M.F., Paternò, F. (eds.) INTERACT 2005. LNCS, vol. 3585, pp. 267–280. Springer, Heidelberg (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/11555261_24

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  22. Suh, A., et al.: The use of wearable technologies and body awareness: a body–tool relationship perspective. In: HCI International 2016, pp. 388–392 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Tomlinson, B.: Greening Through IT, Information Technology for Environmental Sustainability. The MIT Press, Cambridge (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Tudor-Locke, C., et al.: How many steps/day are enough? For older adults and special populations. Int. J. Behav. Nutr. Phys. Act. 8(1), 80 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: 2008 Physical activity guidelines for Americans. Pres. Counc. Phys. Fit. Sport. Res. Dig. 9(4), 1–8 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Van de Watering, M.: The impact of computer technology on the elderly. http://www.marekvandewatering.com/texts/HCI_Essay_Marek_van_de_Watering.pdf

  27. Young-Hyun, P., Kwang-hee, H.: Information display of wearable devices through sound feedback of wearable computing. In: Jacko, J.A. (ed.) HCI 2007. LNCS, vol. 4551, pp. 1200–1209. Springer, Heidelberg (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73107-8_132

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  28. Young, R.A., et al.: The action-project method in counseling psychology. J. Couns. Psychol. 52, 2 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Young, R.A., Valach, L.: Action and language: contextual action theory in counselling. Psychol. Française 61(1), 31–42 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Zhou, X., et al.: Assessing age-related performance decrements in user interface tasks. In: 2011 IEEE ICIA 2011, pp. 817–822 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Miina Sillanpää Foundation, LUT Research Platform on Smart Services for Digitalization (DIGI-USER) for their generous support of our research and Greg Priest-Dorman for valuable feedback on early version of the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland

    Jayden Khakurel, Helinä Melkas & Jari Porras

  2. Saimaa University of Applied Sciences, Lappeenranta, Finland

    Susanna Tella

  3. California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA

    Birgit Penzenstadler

Authors
  1. Jayden Khakurel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Susanna Tella
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Birgit Penzenstadler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Helinä Melkas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jari Porras
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jayden Khakurel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Barbara Guidi

  2. University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Laura Ricci

  3. Polytechnic University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Carlos Calafate

  4. University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    Ombretta Gaggi

  5. University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Johann Marquez-Barja

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Khakurel, J., Tella, S., Penzenstadler, B., Melkas, H., Porras, J. (2018). Living with Smartwatches and Pedometers: The Intergenerational Gap in Internal and External Contexts. In: Guidi, B., Ricci, L., Calafate, C., Gaggi, O., Marquez-Barja, J. (eds) Smart Objects and Technologies for Social Good. GOODTECHS 2017. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 233. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76111-4_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76111-4_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-76110-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-76111-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation