Touch-screen application’s design guidelines for older adults with dementia

Dementia is a complex syndrome of neurological diseases that affects a person’s cognitive abilities, memory, and behavior. It progressively deteriorates over time and has no cure yet. As the world population ages, the prevalence of dementia is expected to rise. According to many studies, touch-screen technology has the potential to offer support to older adults with dementia in their daily activities. However, there is a significant gap in the availability of dementia-friendly touch-screen applications for this group of users. This research aims to propose a set of guidelines and design recommendations for touch-screen applications targeted toward older adults with dementia. In addition, the research explores the cognitive and physical impairments that come with aging and dementia, examining their impacts on the design of the touch-screen application’s interface, functionality, as well as interactions. Interviews have been conducted with experts to validate the design guidelines. Findings show that the proposed guidelines could assist the developers in designing touchscreen applications to improve user accessibility and experience.