5.1.6 How characteristics of end users affect the use and characteristics of digital technologies to access a service or a product

Question 1

State:

6 different characteristics of end users that affect the use and characteristics of digital technologies

Answer 1

• Age
• Skills
• Education Level
• Internal or External Audience
• Level of technical knowledge
• Additional Needs

Question 2

Explain:

The affect an end user’s age will have on the use and characteristics of a digital system

Answer 2

• Younger end user whos grown up with technology and are most likely to adapt to new digital technology that older users
• Important that a design considers a wide range of ages for their end users (customers or employees) and ensure that the systems associated software are simple to use

Question 3

Explain:

The affect an end user’s skills will have on the use and characteristics of a digital system

Answer 3

• May factors contribute to people’s skill with tech (age, location, socioeconomic status)
• All end users must be enabled to use the technology by being assisted in navigating and using it with minimal issues

Question 4

Explain:

The affect an end user’s education level will have on the use and characteristics of a digital system

Answer 4

• If the end user has a low education level the technology should be simplified for use and incorporate language
• Can be difficult to balance for businesses to meet the needs of individuals of a wide range of education levels
• Can use graphics and video presentations instead of long text

Question 5

Explain:

The affect if an end user is part of an internal/external audience will have on the use and characteristics of a digital system

Answer 5

• Internal audience may be factory or warehouse workers; employees of the company whereas external audience is customers purchasing products/services
• External audience; use of e-commerce site - no knowledge, easy to use necessary
• Internal audience; management systems/logistic systems - internal knowledge

Question 6

Explain:

The affect an end user’s level of technical knowledge will have on the use and characteristics of a digital system

Answer 6

• Can be related to age, skills and education level
• Exposure a person has had to technology and how much they have used it can have an impact on their technical knowledge
• Can be limits to a person’s technical knowledge with respect to the specific product or service
• Difficult to use websites for help when they do not understand technical terms - restricted access

Question 7

Explain:

The affect an end user’s additional needs will have on the use and characteristics of a digital system

Answer 7

• Includes people with disabilities (visual, speech, hearing impairments)
• Technology must be implemented to be accessible by all end users regardless of situation
• Organisations should research different types of end users, their characteristics, people accessing their services/products - can use personas based on research results

Question 8

State:

4 positive characteristics the impact of digital technology has had on end users

Answer 8

4 of:
* Across devices - Possible to access content across multiple devices (assisted by cloud services)
* Mobile - Mobile technology enables access anywhere, anytime
* Personalised - Everyone has own set of ‘tools’ they use regularly creating their own personal digital environment
* Connceted/global - People can connect on a global scale using social media, email, sms and online meeting platforms
* Ubiquitous (found everywhere) - Almost all locations have WiFi to be allow to be constantly online
* Interactive - Web allows for greater interaction than in the past

Question 9

State:

4 negative characteristics the impact of digital technology has had on end users

Answer 9

4 of:
* Insecure - Some sites and apps are not secure where an end user wants reassurance that any interaction is safe
* Accessiblity - Some digital technology, like websites, are not well designed and do not consider the needs of an end user - particularly those with accessiblity issues
* Quantity - too m,uch information can make it difficult for the end user to find the information they want
* Time-consuming - participating in online platforms like social media can be time consuming
* Trivial - important information available is useful and it can be challenging if a person has to filter out too much information they do not want
* Cost - resources and tools can be costly
* Unrelialbe/Insecure - Sometimes apps, websites and digital technology can crash or get hacked - has an impact on an organisation as well as its end users
* Transitory - technology is constantly changing - organisations must consider that all end users will have got used to using current systems if interfaces suddenly change
* Connectivity - True that there is almost full access, when connections fails and end users lose access it can be frustrating