Meeting with Garth - 74 years old

Last week I met with Garth (name changed by the editor) to have a chat about how he uses Facebook and any other social networking sites. I also ran my early design concepts (verbally) past him to gather some initial reactions.

Garth was exposed to using a computer in his 50s for work, but then never had to again. His friend inspired him saying it was so easy, so Garth also enrolled in a computer class at the age of 65 years. He had a bit of a fear using the computer and maybe pressing the wrong button, but what really helped him was when one of the computers broke and the teacher had to open up the computer unit. He then realised that all the pieces just slotted in and it was like a simple jigsaw. Proudly he explained how he had fixed the fan of his current computer since.

Now he hasn't got a fear any more, but feels frustration or anger when the computer doesn't do what it's supposed to do. (Note: we all feel that or?!) Garth doesn't mind loosing data. He keeps the most important things on his USB stick, so if ever anything happens he'd be alright.

He's an avid user of ancestry.co.uk. He has 6 grandchildren, by his two daughters who live in Australia. It's his hobby to research about the family and he keeps them uptodate (though his grandchildren don't show any interest in his research to his disappointment).
His friends on facebook are mainly his grandchildren. He sees pictures of them 'having a good time'. He feels close to them because he virtually sees them when they are relaxed and happy. In some ways he thinks it's nicer to get a message from his granddaughter than meeting her face-to-face. (There is a notion that face-to-face is more controlling and this way the grandchildren can just be as they are and they don't hide anything).

When he writes to his grandchildren he only writes 3-4 lines so it doesn't “bore or scare” them. He usually uses the comment box. He always writes back to them as soon as possible when they have written to him. (I noticed that he didn't distinguish between messages and comments and I think he only uses comments and didn't even know about messages or any of the other features).

Overall he disapproves of Facebook and he only does it for his grandchildren. He doesn't like seeing all the pictures of his oldest grandchild drunk at a party. He also wondered why the friends of his grandchildren would invite him. He thinks that it must the cool factor when he accepts it because they'd have a friend from another part of the world.

He doesn't use Skype yet. He plays solitaire or "free cell" quite a bit, well lots!, but he is not interested in multiplayer games - maybe when he's lonely one day, but he doesn't feel that way now.

He wouldn't know what to do without a computer - loves his computer so he can be in contact and research his family history. He uses the message board in ancestry quite a bit, where people you don't know can email you because they found a something of interest in your family tree. But it seemed that he didn't perceive it as anything similar to Facebook where you can connect with people.

I asked him what elements a website should have so he likes to be in contact with his grandchildren and other friends. He said lots of pictures, emails (for letter writing) and comments for 2 line messages and images that you can view in a slideshow. I explained the ‘weather idea’ to him. He wasn't too interested since the weather is always nice where his relatives are in Australia and he has mostly rain. He was more interested in understanding the time differences at a glance.
He very much liked the idea of showing visuals that could trigger memories. He continued telling me about a pressure cooker his sisters used and he will never forget how it looked before and after. He would like to be able to write about his memories and could also imagine expressing them in different ways. (I ran out of time to ask him in which other ways)

Weekly updates of ‘memory reminders’? He wasn't sure about the weekly timing. Garth thinks that he might use it at the beginning but then it might become tedious in the long run. (Here I got the impression that it's really important to allow people to choose the time frame they like to browse in. An idea that I'm already working on).