Developing a Usable Android Launcher to Help Elderly People in Indonesia Use Smartphones

Abstract

Technologies have become an inseparable part of our life. The benefits of technology have impacted every aspect of our daily life: from education, entertainment, transportation to communication. It has become very difficult for most people to go through the day without technology such as computers and cell phones. One example of technology that is very widely used by all kinds of people is smartphones. The number of smartphone users increases every year. Smartphones are not only used by teenagers and adults, but also by kids and elderly people. The use of smartphones is not limited to communication only, but also has extended to social media, online shop and games. Nowadays, elderly people wish to use their smartphones regularly to communicate and socialize with their family and friends. However, using a smartphone is still not an easy thing to do for some elderly people. Using a launcher can assist elderly people and enhance their experience when interacting with smartphones. Android has several launchers that are specially designed for elderly people, such as Big, Necta and Wiser, which can be used in every smartphone type. Yet, the usability of these launchers is still to be evaluated. Our research aims to develop a usable Android launcher to help elderly people in Indonesia use smartphones more effectively and efficiently in their daily lives. Through usability testing, we evaluated three existing Android launchers (Big, Necta and Wiser) to measure how far the usability criteria have been met and to identify other needs yet to be accommodated. Nine elderly people who use smartphones on a regular basis were involved as participants. To measure the usability of the launchers, five usability criteria were used: effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction, usefulness, and learnability. We administered the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire and an interview to gain insights on user experience when using the launchers. The usability testing of three existing launchers showed that the effectiveness (percentage of participants’ success to complete the tasks under the standard time) of Big is 1.85%, Necta is 1.85%, Wiser is 11.1%, and the efficiency (percentage of participant's success to complete the tasks without error) of Big is 22%, Necta is 28%, and Wiser is 24%. The SUS scores for all three launchers tested were below the acceptable standard, namely 49.72 (Big), 66.38 (Necta), and 51.11 (Wiser). Based on the usability tests and the interviews, we managed to identify 16 user needs to be accommodated. We developed and further prototyped an Android launcher for elderly people in Indonesia. The usability evaluation on the newly developed launcher showed that the effectiveness increases to 42.5%, the efficiency increases to 65%, and also the SUS score rises to 69.17. Overall, the new Android launcher developed in this research has shown to be more usable since it has reached a higher usability level than the other three existing launchers. This new and usable launcher is expected to provide help for elderly people in Indonesia when using their Android smartphones so they can experience a more effective and efficient interaction.