Methodologies for working with older people: pastiche scenarios
A. Lauener, F. Slack, A. Dearden, C. Roast, S. Yates, S. Cassidy
Full text PDF 
( Download count: 3847)
AbstractAn investigation of smartcard technologies and e-consultation systems in local government, taking place in Sheffield and the Black Country, used older people as part of the usability testing and evaluation panels. A number of workshops were conducted in late 2004 to elicit requirements and explore usability of the proposed smartcard products. Many of these groups contained older people in various roles, including IT (information technology) learners, members of Credit Unions and participants in social groups. In order to derive usability data from these potential users, we used the technique known as 'pastiche scenarios'. We report here the reaction of older people in the study and our observations of how the method worked, in comparison to a group of younger people and one where the age groups were mixed. We found that a group of older people is just as varied as any other segment of the population and just as articulate about their requirements as younger IT users, but with less jargon. They display irritation with their physical competencies in using the technology, but equal irritation with the technology for not accommodating their self-perceived 'inadequacies'. Using these participants to generate ‘pastiche scenarios’ about smartcards has tapped a rich vein of experience and humour. The results from these panels have provided the smartcard developers with a great deal of useful feedback.Keywords: smartcards; pastiche scenarios; usability workshops
A. Lauener, F. Slack, A. Dearden, C. Roast, S. Yates, S. Cassidy (2006). Methodologies for working with older people: pastiche scenarios. Gerontechnology, 5(1), 16-28
https://doi.org/10.4017/gt.2006.05.01.003.00