Evaluation of User Experience and Sociability on Social Softwares in an Elderly People Perspective: A Facebook Case Study

This work aimed to characterize how Facebook supports the sociability among elderly members and to discuss the impact of this proposed sociability in the social interaction of users. We conducted this research in four steps. First, we executed an evaluation in a perspective of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) experts, which aimed to analyze whether the features offered by Facebook are adequate to user experience (UX) and sociability guidelines. Next, we performed an evaluation from the elderly users' perspective, in order to investigate users' experience while they are interacting through Facebook. Finally, we made a triangulation of the results and we discussed the impact of Facebook in the social interaction of users. The results showed that the interface and interaction model of Facebook reflects directly on the experience of use and sociability of this members' group. As contributions, we present recommendations and insights about the design and evaluation of social softwares.