ABSTRACT
Does anybody know of any completely “intuitive” technology products? You can probably find them in the same department that houses (mythical) unicorns. Once designers realize the range of potential users for a product and that there may be novice users in that group, the need for instructional support becomes obvious, even for second- and third-generational variants of existing products. How can we design instructional support for aging users? As Chapter 6 GOMS parameters illustrated, older users undergo normative changes in information processing capabilities supporting perception, cognition, and psychomotor performance. Slowing in information processing rate, with older adults taking 1.5 to 2 times longer than younger adults for many cognitive operations, provides an important constraint for learnability and memorability, two important facets of product usability (see Chapter 4). Age-related diminished capabilities in senses such as vision and hearing that support perceptual processing provide important constraints on how to design multi-media supports such as manuals and videos. In this chapter we focus on three case studies from CREATE research on best practices for designing instructional support.
