Behavioral Intention and Use Behavior of Social Networking Websites among Senior Adults

Use of social networking websites has rapidly increased over the last decade. Online social environments are quickly changing to meet the demands of younger users however the needs of senior adults are often ignored on most websites today and underrepresented in many Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) studies. The study sought to close the gap in research by providing greater knowledge about the behavioral intention and use behavior of social networking websites among senior adults. Senior adults from several locations and organizations were asked to complete an online self-administered survey answering questions that tie directly into the research hypotheses for the study and the UTAUT model to identify specific factors that influence behavioral intention and use behavior of social networking websites. Implications of the study include a better understanding and discovery of the unique needs and requirements for seniors in relation to social networking websites. Results of the study provided some important findings as the original hypotheses initially thought that the gender had a moderating effect on each performance expectancy, effort expectancy, or social influence as they each relate to a senior adult\u27s behavioral intention to use social networking sites. However, conclusions were drawn from the data indicating that in all three instances, a significant correlation consistently did not exist among gender and performance expectancy, effort expectancy, or social influence respectively. In each instance, evidence for the moderating effect of gender was unable to be supported in stark contrast to what was previously thought at the onset of the study. It was further concluded that a senior adult\u27s perceived performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence were all found to be predictors of the senior\u27s behavioral intention toward using a social networking website. Finally, a senior adult\u27s perception of facilitating conditions and their actual behavioral intention to use a social networking website were found to be predictors of the senior\u27s use behavior for a social networking website

Tirta Nirmaya: designing a Malay user-interface using indigenous Jawi script

My project (Tirta Nirmaya) is a design prototype of a mobile application interface based on Jawi script, an ancient Malay indigenous script. The design prototype is the result of my exploration of techniques of designing user interfaces based on Jawi script. It is a culturally important development , because Jawi typography is a communicative and literary tool in the Malay culture , and Jawi has been the intellectual and political conveyor in the history of the Malays. The prototype in Tirta Nirmaya uses poetry as content because in the Malay culture, it is a literary genre that is used to narrate history, mythology, proverb, riddles and folk romances. To complete my research project, I needed to know more about two fields within Human-Computer Interaction – firstly, the development of a sustainable user interface. Secondly, I need to understand how my research can make a novel contribution to the epistemology of user interface design and cultural heritage content among globalised computer users My project involved analysis of the usefulness of Aaron Marcus’ specific guidelines for the critical aspects of globalisation in the user-interface design process. Marcus’ design process guidelines apply to the following functions: user demographics, technology, metaphors, mental models, navigation, interaction and appearance. Marcus and Gould (2012) assert that “global product distribution requires a strategy and tactics for the design process that infuse international and cultural requirements” (p. 343). To create such a strategy, I applied Marcus’ design process guidelines to two case studies. The first case study is the interface of a Malaysian government website (the Jawi Portal). The second case study relates to an interface I have designed for my research project, in order to gain an understanding of the usefulness of the theory and subsequent user-interface design technique for the Malay user. Locating a definitive design guideline for developing a user-interface for the Malay user proved difficult, for several reasons. Firstly, many academics have described the Malay culture as a diverse and complex one within a multicultural society. Artistically, the identity of the Malay culture is infused by other cultures, especially through social and intellectual traditions. While Chinese and Indian Malaysians use their indigenous typography as part of their user-interface, Malays use Latin typography. As a designer, how could I account for this diversity? Aaron Marcus, Ben Shneiderman and Catherine Plaisant recommend establishing design guidelines for multiple language and cultures. Secondly, the dwindling use of Jawi since 2001 among the youth in Malaysia and Brunei complicated the design of the user-interface. Leading cultural academics contend that Jawi is a crucial component of identity for the Malay people, and that the use of Jawi should be sustained by eternalising it in the public domain, which includes the development and use of software applications. Through the development of an application that utilises Jawi script, my aim is to encourage and cultivate the sustainable practice of this aspect of heritage within the multicultural society of Malaysia