Back to Real Pictures: A Cross-generational Understanding of Users' Mental Models of Photo Cloud Storage

Personal pictures storage is currently split between a myriad of physical and digital tools. Cloud photo storage and social networks are seeing increasing adoption, and are being recommended to families (especially older generations) as digital pictures solutions. The ubiquity of these platforms raises the question of whether the design of their photo-based operations consider the mental models of their cross-generational users. Understanding mental models is a key factor for the usability (and adoption) of these technologies. Previous works have observed that perceptions of digital storage limit adoption, especially for older users. However, we do not yet understand users' mental models of these applications. This impedes efforts to design applications better matching diverse user needs. We present here a cross-generational investigation of users' mental models of ubiquitous picture technologies, including cloud storage and social sharing. We find that mental models are split (both between generations and domains), contributing to lower adoption by older adults. Our analysis reveals that digital tools need to understand their roots in physical pictures and bridge this divide by including physical concepts as an aspect of use, if we are to support cross-generational interactions with personal and family pictures.