Younger and Older Adults’ Use of Mobile Phones for Rendezvousing

This paper reports a diary study of the use of mobile telephones for rendezvousing amongst younger and older adults in the UK. Various cohortrelated age differences between younger and older students were expected. However, these differences were either not found, or found to be weak. The significant age differences that were found by this study related to the life situations of older adults. Specifically, older adults more frequently: (i) attributed problems rendezvousing to the overrunning of previous activities, and to the spontaneous performance of additional tasks (‘side-stepping’); (ii) reported that ‘problem’ rendezvous resulted in unnecessary sacrifices; and (iii) changed plans for the rendezvous. These differences arose because additional family commitments encouraged older adults to squeeze more activities in to their daily programme. Different prior experience and established habits with mobile phones was less important. Some implications for tailoring wireless navigation and related services to adult users are discussed.