Design and Evaluation of a Family Communciation Platform: Acceptability and User Perspectives

The rapid development of modern online social networking sites (SNSs) has not only changed traditional social models, but have emerged as a critical social tool for today’s youth. Elderly people, despite their relatively low rates of use of computers or the internet, have been found to express a high degree of interest in learning to use such tools as a means of increasing their interaction with the younger generation. Research has found that SNS-based communication do not replace face-to-face or telephone communication, but rather creates a new domain of family communication, providing family members with rich opportunities to maintain contact Unfortunately, currently most research into SNSs focus on personal networks rather than maintaining family relationships or the promotion of intergenerational exchange. Therefore, this study describes the design and development of Memotree - an only social platform suitable for promoting familial social interaction. Memotree offers social functionality similar to today’s SNSs, but presented from the perspective of the user’s family tree in the context of the user’s family history and kinship structure, creating the elements of a Family Communication Scale to promote communication among family members. In addition, Memotree is designed to take into account the difference between older and younger people in terms of usage habits and experience to provide appropriate social platforms and hardware, ensuring that users of different generations are able to get the most out of the experience.

Project ID:PB10207-1934
External Project ID:NSC102-2221-E182-053