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Designing Mobile Applications for Older Adults with Cognitive Decline: Inclusive Design Considerations for User Experience Designers

Older adults with cognitive decline vary in their needs, abilities and attitudes to technology. They also increasingly use mobile technologies such as tablets. Most UX designers, however, lack knowledge about cognitive accessibility and design for seniors, especially in mobile. This MRP targeted UX designers and argued that seniors with cognitive decline represent a vital ‘edge case’ that leads to better designs for everybody. Guided by a model of ‘Inclusive UX’ as more than usability for average users, it assembled a comprehensive set of research-based inclusive design considerations for the wide range of UX designers working in mobile. The main methodology was content analysis based on design, psychology and human-computer interaction literature as well as an ‘inclusive survey’ with thirteen professionals including designers, inclusive design experts, academics and doctors. This MRP will be of interest to UX designers as well as students and academics in design, computer science and human- computer interaction. http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/261/