This is a joint proposal from the RSA Digital Engagement Working Group (RSAde) and Lancaster University Management School and Computing Department. Our objective is to provide a simple user-friendly educational browser for older people who have no or very little prior experience of using a computer or smartphone. It will provide a built-in tutorial and online guide. The browser will provide simple instructions that are very easy to navigate for a PC novice. It could be either a website that would act as the PC homepage or an app that runs on a smartphone on a tablet PC such as iPad or ePad running the Android operating system. The tutorial navigation would be included in a permanent position of the screen with a clear route to return to the start if someone loses their way.

The problem

We want to create an “aha” moment for older people with little or no internet experience. We want to find a way of encouraging these people to get excited about the internet and have the desire to use it more because they see the amazing conversations they can discover and the wonderful connections they can start to make. At the moment, when they look at the internet, or even a computer, many older people simply see a lot of scary technology they don't understand. The EZPZ browser is a way of making it easier for them.

The idea

The idea behind the EZPZ browser is to provide a user experience which takes the novice PC user through the following learning cycle:

Creating awareness: The homepage of EZPZ would provide a welcome message and/or video that would introduce new users to the benefits of using the Internet, demonstrate how other newcomers have started benefiting and to encourage them to persevere. This needs to be done in a very engaging way that catches and holds the novice users' attention, perhaps in the form of a news bulletin using a format that people are already familiar with from watching TV.

Generating interest: The usefulness of internet searching and browing needs to be demonstrated in an engaging way which relates to the novice user's personal interests. For example, the user could be asked to enter a hobby or area of interest which then triggers a standard search, the results of which are presented in a clearer than standard way, with headlines and or summarised content that only presents search results that are directly relevant in a simple screen layout without any additional content in sidebars that may confuse the novice user - these can follow later. For example, content could be presented in a newspaper format with headlines and summaries so that the user can see clearly what the content is about without having to drill down with hyperlinks. The presentation could be on the lines of some smartphone newspaper or news feed browsers.

Interactivity: Interactivity could be provided at each stage enabling the user to obtain further instruction. Examples of other users' experiences should be provided wherever possible.

Feedback: A simple questionnaire could ask for feedback on the experience so far, ask to see what has been learned about using the service and find out about the user's degree of engagement, potential benefits from using the service and intentions regarding future usage and sharing of the news with friends and family. This information could be collected and used in future promotional material aimed at encouraging non PC users to engage with the Internet and social media.

The project would use available content provision from Google search and utilise web development and smartphone app technologies.

What we need

A team of researchers at Lancaster University Management School is already looking at this problem (supported by the RSA Catalyst seed fund and in partnership with RSAde). If our bid is successful, a handful of core pepo;le including RSA fellows (members of RSAde) and researchers from Lancaster will attend. Although we would look to recruit one or two developers from Lancaster University's computing department, additional developers present at Interactivism would be crucial and most welcome!

We need a community of people to test the EZPY Browser: the RSA Fellowship (average age 58, many of them not online) would be a great place to source this community. 

Finally, if the prototype is successful, we would need a commercial partner to assist in taking the EZPZ browser to market.

Tags

EZPZ, browser, RSA, RSAde, Lancaster University,academics and reformers, accessibility, digital inclusion: esp. middle-aged upwards, google, older people, old people

EZPZ Browser ("eezy-peezy browser")

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