Older Adults’ Evaluations of Mobile Apps: Insights from a Mobility App-based Solution

Older adults are a growing segment in society. One of the main challenges that older adults experience relates to mobility. Recognizing this noteworthy challenge, a state-of-the-art mobility app-based solution called the TakeMe app was developed to bring transportation options and volunteers to older adults’ fingertips and thus enabling them to remain mobile outside the home environment to meet their needs. The present study aims to explore older adults’ evaluations of the mobility app-based solution. To do so, the study adopts a qualitative approach to interview older adults’ and a quantitative approach to perform and report on a content analysis of older adults’ evaluations of the mobility app-based solution, thereby leveraging on the benefit of soliciting participant voices in the former and the benefit of objectivity in analysis and reporting in the latter. Findings of the study reveal three key aspects that older adults consider when evaluating mobile apps: learning experience, value perception, and usability. The study concludes with key takeaways and their implications for theory and practice, as well as limitations and future research directions.