Abstract
Internal and external factors in the process of learning to use new ICT equipment
by older adults were investigated. We particularly focused on the effect of prior ex-
periences in computer use and communication with others who were participants to
the same type. Older adults (N = 21) and younger adults (N = 12) participated in
a four-week, longitudinal usability test of using the android tablet. Participants were
tested twice, at the first and the last week of the study period. Computer experience
and the opportunities for communication during the experiment were controlled. The
results indicated that with time, older adults could learn to use the tablet, and that the
manipulation performance of older adults was consistently worse than that of younger
adults. Results indicated the effect of prior computer experience on learning to manipu-
late, as well as on the subjective difficulty of manipulating during the five weeks. There
was no effect of communicating with other older adults on performance and subjective
difficulty. However, communicating with others in ‘hot-hub’ communication promoted
the frequency of using the tablet at home. The qualitative analysis of protocol data
during communicating with others indicated that such communication decreased anx-
iety about manipulating the tablet. However, sharing concrete operational details did
not take place during ‘hot-hub’ communication.
