Smart Speech Systems: A Focus Group Study on Older Adult User and Non-User Perceptions of Speech Interfaces

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics of participants in focus groups.

Demographic factors	Use group		No-use group
	Group 1	Group 2	Group 1	Group 2
Sample size (N)	4	6	4	4
Gender
Female	4	4	3	3
Male	0	2	1	1
Age (years)
60–64	1	2	–	1
65–69	1	–	2	1
70–74	–	1	2	1
75–79	2	3	–	–
80 and up	–	–	–	1
Education
No high school	–	–	1	–
Some high school	1	–	–	–
High school degree	1	–	–	–
Some college/Associates degree	2	3	–	2
Bachelor’s degree	–	–	1	–
Master’s degree	–	3	2	–
Doctoral degree	–	–	–	2
Marital status
Single	1	–	1	1
Married	–	3	–	–
Divorced	1	2	2	1
Widowed	2	1	1	2
Working status
Working/Volunteering part-time	–	2	1	–
Working/Volunteering full-time	1	1	–	2
Homemaker	1	–	1	–
Retired	2	3	2	2
Self-reported health (average) (0-poor to 5-excellent scale)
Physical health rating	2.92	4.17	3.75	3.54
Mental health rating	4.0	4.86	4.17	3.96
Primary use of speech system
Leisure (home)	75%	100%	–	–
Efficiency/Necessity (work)	50%	16.67%	–	–
Wellness (health)	25%	–	–	–

Table 2. Descriptions of themes developed for the no-use and use groups.

Theme	Description
(a) (Perceived) Advantages	Relates to the perceived (no-use group) or experienced (use group) benefits of speech systems
(b) Motivators and Facilitators	Encompasses the factors that (would for the no-use group; do for the use group) promote, encourage, or enable the use of speech systems
(c) (Perceived) Challenges and Difficulties	Identifies perceived (no-use group) or experienced (use group) inefficiencies when using speech systems as a whole and/or select features/functions
(d) Barriers	Involves aspects that prevent or hinder users from using specific features/functions (use group) or speech systems altogether (no-use group)
(e) Perception of Technology	Relates to perception of technology in general

Table 3. No-use and use group themes and subthemes.^a

	No-use group	Use group
Theme (a): (Perceived) Advantages	Assistive functions	Assistive functions
	Benefit to society	Benefit to society
Theme (b): Motivators and Facilitators	Social influence	Social influence
	Saves time	Saves time
	Desire to be taught	Desire to learn
		Easy to use, convenient, and easily accessible
		Cost
Theme (c): (Perceived) Challenges and Difficulties	Lack of accuracy and reliability	Lack of accuracy and reliability
	Privacy and trust concerns	Privacy and trust concerns
		Limited knowledge of features/functions
Theme (d): Barriers	Lack of knowledge	Lack of knowledge
	No-significant age-related declines	Limited transparency of information
	Cost
Theme (e): Perception of Technology	Awareness of increasing technological presence	Concerns about privacy invasions
	Past technological experiences more negative	Past technological experiences more positive

^aThis study includes a sample size of 18 participants, with 8 participants in the no-use group and 10 participants in the use group.