Small Intervention: Testing Older Adults’ Experience with a Digital Healthcare Interface
Intervention
I conducted a small intervention with four participants to explore how older adults interact with digital healthcare services. Rather than asking only whether they “can use an app”, I asked each participant to complete a simple task: find a hospital department and make an appointment using a healthcare interface.
I observed where they hesitated, what they misunderstood, and which information they looked for first. I then showed them a simplified version of the same interface and asked them to repeat the task.
Participants
I tested four participants with different levels of digital experience:
- Participant 1: 60s, regularly uses WeChat and mobile payment.
- Participant 2: 60s, uses a smartphone mainly for calls and messaging.
- Participant 3: 70s, uses WeChat but rarely uses healthcare apps.
- Participant 4: 70s, relies on family members for most online healthcare services.
Observations and Results
The first important finding was that smartphone ability did not directly predict healthcare interface confidence. Participant 1 was very comfortable using WeChat and mobile payment, but still hesitated when using the healthcare interface because there were too many categories and unfamiliar terms.
Participant 2 had difficulty identifying where to begin the appointment process. They repeatedly returned to the previous page and asked whether they had selected the correct department.
Participant 3 understood the basic buttons but found the medical terminology difficult to interpret. They were more concerned about “choosing the wrong thing” than about physically operating the phone.
Participant 4 depended heavily on verbal confirmation and asked for reassurance before pressing the final confirmation button.
When using the simplified interface, all four participants completed the task more easily. The most noticeable improvement came from reducing the number of choices on the first screen, using clearer language, and making the next step more visually obvious.
Reflection
This intervention changed my understanding of the problem. I initially expected the main barrier to be digital literacy, but the test suggested that the problem may be more closely related to how healthcare information is communicated through digital systems.
The participants were not necessarily unable to use smartphones. Instead, they became uncertain when the interface introduced unfamiliar medical language, too many choices, or unclear consequences of their actions.
This makes me question whether my research should focus specifically on “older adults and technology” or more specifically on the communication gap between older adults and digital healthcare systems.
My next step will be to investigate this communication gap further and test whether similar difficulties appear across different stages of the healthcare journey.
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