Senior-centered design for mobile medication adherence applications based on cognitive and technology attributes

This paper aims to promote technology usage among older Saudi people by addressing the common problems they encounter around adhering to medication schedules and using mobile health applications. An interactive mobile user interface has been designed based on requirements determined using three inputs: (1) relevant existing research work, (2) interviews with medicine specialists, and (3) a survey of 602 older Saudis. The output from the first input is a set of updated guidelines adapted to the older Saudi population and reconstructed based on cognitive process attributes. The interview output identifies medication adherence issues and proposed solutions. The survey output produced a mobile technology model for older Saudis. The guidelines have been applied to a prototype and then tested in two phases: (1) pilot testing and (2) usability testing. In the testing phase, 50 older Saudi users provided insights into the effectiveness, error safety, and productivity factors of the solution developed, with the results confirming that designing mobile applications based on the model of older users and cognitive attributes improved effectiveness and reduced errors when performing mobile tasks, specifically around adherence to medications. For the productivity factor, the results align with the physical characteristics of the targeted older individuals, who typically require more time than younger people to perform certain tasks.