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International Journal of
Population Studies Design and usability evaluations of a course

of participants was considered sufficient for identifying Funding
usability problems, based on findings by Nielsen (2012).
This study was funded by Lund University.
4.3. Practical implications Conflict of interest
The findings should interest providers of late-life learning,
e.g., universities, study associations, and municipalities. The authors have no conflict of interest with respect to the
One lesson learned was that the university’s written research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
standardized instructions for online course enrollment Author contributions
must be considered in late-life learning. If the instructions
are not tailored to the target users, course enrollment Conceptualization: Kiran Maini Gerhardsson
might cause unnecessary computer anxiety. Investigation: Kiran Maini Gerhardsson, Steven Schmidt,
Susanne Iwarsson
The findings are also relevant for researchers developing Writing – original draft: Kiran Maini Gerhardsson
educational and behavioral change interventions. Unlike Writing – review & editing: Steven Schmidt, Susanne
other behavioral change interventions delivered online, Iwarsson
this intervention uses an existing learning management
system commonly used in formal education at universities. Ethics approval and consent to participate
Provided no sensitive data must be collected during course According to Swedish national legislation on research
participation, a learning management system offers several on humans, no formal ethical approval is needed for
benefits, as mentioned in section 4.1. In addition, course studies that do not elicit data concerning sensitive
providers should obtain user interface and user experience information and do not include any intervention
feedback from target groups who may not be used to to humans. National recommendations for proper
digital learning when developing instrumental courses research conduct (Swedish Research Council/
(i.e., learning for practical use). The findings demonstrate Vetenskapsrådet, 2017) and guidelines on information
how a user-centered iterative design approach can be security at the authors’ institution were followed. All
incorporated into the design of a web-based course. study participants were informed of the purpose of the
study and that identifying information will not be made
5. Conclusion available to anyone who is not directly involved in the
A learning management system seems promising for use study. All participants gave written informed consent
in web-based behavioral change interventions. However, before participation.
from a late-life learning perspective, written university Consent for publication
instructions for completing online course enrollment must
be considered to avoid a potential barrier to enrollment. All participants gave their permission to use the
We conclude that the course, supplemented with physical photographs.
meetings, can benefit late-life learners because of the Availability of data
relevant easy-to-use content.
Data used in this study is available from the corresponding
Acknowledgments author upon reasonable request.
The authors thank four subject matter experts – References
Christina Brogårdh, Maurits Svenning Gerhardsson,
Hillevi Hemphälä, and Arne Lowden – with expertise in Alfonsson, S., Johansson, K., Uddling, J., & Hursti, T. (2017).
Differences in motivation and adherence to a prescribed
physiotherapy, psychology, visual ergonomics, or sleep assignment after face-to-face and online psychoeducation:
for reviewing the course content. We thank Ann-Mari An experimental study. BMC Psychology, 5(3):3.
Storm (Member of the CASE Research Center User Board)
for providing feedback on an early version of the course https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-017-0172-5
content. Thanks also to the UX designer Janna Lindsjö who Bangor, A., Kortum, P.T., & Miller, J.T. (2008). An empirical
advised about the usability testing procedure. We thank evaluation of the system usability scale. International Journal
the research participants for their valuable participation, of Human-Computer Interaction, 24(6):574-594.
as well as two anonymous reviewers. This work was carried https://doi.org/10.1080/10447310802205776
out with the support of MoRe-Lab (Movement and Reality Bjursell, C. (2019). Inclusion in education later in life: Why older
lab), Lund University, Sweden. adults engage in education activities. European Journal

Volume 10 Issue 2 (2024) 38 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.378