C. Stephanidis (Ed.): Universal Access in HCI, Part II, HCII 2011, LNCS 6766, pp. 224–233, 2011. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011 Connecting Communities: Designing a Social Media Platform for Older Adults Living in a Senior Village Tsai-Hsuan Tsai 1 , Hsien-Tsung Chang 2 , Alice May-Kuen Wong 3 , and Tsung-Fu Wu 1 1 Department of Industrial Design, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan 2 Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan 3 Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan ttsai.cgu@gmail.com Abstract. In order to develop an appropriate social computing application for senior users, the salient point of this research was to explore social and physical environments of a senior living community and social interaction between ag- ing residents, and to investigate the key factors of technology acceptance for those older adults with little or no computer knowledge. The next step was to give an appropriate alternative communication technology applicable to the elderly and their living milieu, and thereby enhance their social interaction. The area of study was also concerned with determining social communication, perceived ease of use, enjoyment, and satisfaction for the new digital social platform via the technology acceptance model. Keywords: elderly social model, user interface, smart social platform. 1 Introduction The elderly are the fastest growing sector of society. The concomitant increase in burden from aging-related illness and impairments, such as chronic disease, physical disability and sensory impairment, psychomotor impairments, mental health, memory loss and learning disabilities, dementia, and others, makes it vitally important for older adults to remain independent and productive for as long as possible. While the majority of attention in aging research has focused on physical factors and functional requirements, a growing number of studies have presented evidence that suggests that psychological and sociological factors also have a significant influence on increased individual life expectancy and quality of life in older adults [1]. There are many studies of the role that the elderly play in society. Cumming and Henry [2] have proposed the Disengagement Theory which refers to reduced interac- tion between elderly and other people, a change in interpersonal relationships and a significant decrease in level of external participation at the same time as increased age and feebleness. According to the Activity Theory [3], people tend not to choose jobs with acute competition when they get old; they spend time on leisure and social ac- tivities instead. Related studies have pointed out that the interpersonal relationships and social interactions of the elderly report an extremely close impact on their