Towards Designing for (Dis)Trust in Technologies for Aging

Abstract

Across cohorts of older adults and generations of technology, (dis)trust has continued to shape the acceptance of technologies for aging. Yet, we still know little about if or how to design for older adults' distrust in technology. Towards this, we reviewed empirical studies in which older adults discussed trust and distrust in relation to technology. Our analysis shows that (dis)trust is constituted in three key ways: emerges when material arrangements of digital systems become illegible, such as when older adults cannot determine where information is stored or trace its movement; is temporally constituted and fluid, building and shifting through prior experience and breakdowns, and at times distrust can operate as boundary work through which individuals limit technology's reach into their autonomy, relationships, and everyday lives. Our work yields design directions for supporting trust across different phases of technology use and by designing systems that make the movement and persistence of information more perceptible.