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Abstract The UTOPIA project (Usable Technology forOlder People—代写留学生论文Inclusive and Appropriate) is focused
on developing effective methods for the early involvementof older people in the development of informationtechnology-related products for people aged 60and over, and on providing industry with tools toassist in the development of information technologyproducts for such older people. An essential part ofthis methodology is building a diverse user base,forming a long-lasting partnership with older people,and developing approaches for effective interactionwith this target user group. Our experiences with elicitinginformation from groups of older people abouttechnology is described, together with a report onseminars for Scottish industry designed to raise anawareness of these issues.

Keywords Older people Æ Technology ÆUser involvement

1 Introduction
Information and communications technology (ICT) isincreasingly used by, and perceived as useful for, adiverse group of ‘‘non-typical’’ users, including olderand disabled people. Although the vital importance ofensuring that the technology produced is both usableand appropriate for these groups has been widelyresearched, recognition of the importance of such factorsis only now beginning to influence mainstreamusability studies [26].
An exploratory phase is essential in the developmentof new ICT products; during such a phase, the need for
products and solutions is identified, and appropriateconcepts addressing this need are developed [35]. Eliciting
requirements from older people, who often havelimited experience of ICT, for products which do not yetexist, poses unique problems. Established technologydevelopmenttechniques, such as methods used in HCI oruser centred design, address some but not all of theseproblems, while existing human-centred research methodologies,such as those used in psychological and socialresearch, address others. The adaptation of some suchtechniques to address the special issues involved indeveloping ICT for older people is explored in this paper.
1.1 Background
The 2001 census shows that, for the first time in the UK,people aged 60 and over outnumber those under 16 [31].The trend of an ageing population is predicted to continue[14], and has important social and economic
repercussions, which have been recognized by the UKgovernment and the Scottish Executive (see, for example,
[7, 8, 22, 36, 39]).
The social and economic pressures caused by theincreasing numbers of older people will present both
challenges and opportunities for those involved in
technology development. Firstly, there is the challengeto make products accessible to, and usable by, olderpeople; secondly, the increasing numbers of active olderpeople provide opportunities for the development of
specialized systems for older people, who have moreleisure time than most of the rest of the population. Inaddition, the number of the ‘‘oldest old’’ (those over 80)is growing more quickly than that of all the other segmentsof the population. This growth will cause a largeR. Eisma (&) Æ A. Dickinson Æ A. Syme Æ A. F. NewellDivision of Applied Computing, University of Dundee,Dundee, DD1 4HN, UK
E-mail: reisma@computing.dundee.ac.uk
Tel.: +44-1382-344668
Fax: +44-1382-345509
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