Attitudes towards Attention and Aging: What Differences between Younger and Older Adults Tell Us about Mobile Technology Design

Errors in interaction with digital devices are typically blamed on human factors such as poor attention. However, the influence of attention upon the quality of human-device interaction is commonly overlooked in product design. Developers rely on feedback through user centred design, but do developers, typically younger adults, understand what an older user means, or experiences, in terms of “attention” and appreciate that fundamental conceptual and experiential differences may exist? The authors examine differences between older and younger adults' concepts of attention in relation to mobile-device use to inform future development. Two participant groups consisted of 11 younger adults (18-30 years) and 12 older adults (65+ years). Qualitative analyses revealed three themes ‘personal understanding of attention', ‘attention is dependent on...', and ‘impact of ageing'.