Developing a Public Transportation Application for the Elderly

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a public transportation application, to assess the prevalence of public transportation among older adults in Turku and to describe the conditions and physical functions these older adults.

A prototype application for older adults was developed and tested. Data gathered from Turku healthcare study consisting of 75-year-old participants was used to assess prevalence and conditions of the passengers. This data shows that most older adults in Turku use public transportation and their health status is good. Good health status, female gender, and not using a car turned out to be significant factors increasing the possibility for older adults to use public transportation.

The testing of the prototype seems to indicate that current public transportation application used in Turku does not manage as well as the prototype. Prototype’s minimalistic design with vertically structured interface and clear page titles seems to function better compared to the official application’s design. Test group brought up that their reasons to not use public transportation applications are caused by the perceived complexity of technology and the lack of perceived usefulness which led to frustration.