An alternative view of ICTs use by older people in Human-Computer Interaction: Similarities, digital content creation and perceived well-being    

- Dra. Susan Möller Ferreira

Thesis supervisors Prof. Dr. Josep Blat & Dr. Sergio Sayago

September 4th, 2015

Brief Thesis Description:  

Within Human-Computer Interaction, older people (60+) are often characterized as a heterogeneous group of consumers of digital content that use ICTs in a limited way due to age-related changes in functional abilities. By drawing on an ethnographical study of ICTs use by approximately 220 older people over a 5-year period in Spain and on two rapid ethnographical studies, in Denmark and Brazil, with around 180, this dissertation presents an alternative view of ICTs use by older people. The results portray older people as creative digital content creators, provide qualitative evidence of how the process of using ICTs have a positive impact on their perceived well-being and argue that their ICTs use is not so heterogeneous as one might think. This dissertation also suggests that fostering the digital inclusion of older people in developing countries such as Brazil rests upon going beyond providing them with physical / technological infrastructures.

Experience as a PhD Student:

Enrolling in the DTIC PhD program was an exceptional experience, allowing me to expand my knowledge in Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction. All this past years, the UPF provided an enormous support to conduct my PhD research and I had the opportunity to involve with high quality researchers from different fields, aspects that strongly contributed to my personal grow as a researcher. As a PhD student from the GTI (Interactive Technologies Group) I took part in different research projects collaborating with other students and researchers worldwide. Adding to it, the atmosphere in the university was always very friendly, which was excellent for making new friends and improving my languages skills.