Social Media Apps: A Paradigm for Examining Usability of Mobile Apps for Working-Age Adults with Mild-Moderate Cognitive Disabilities

An estimated 79% of the US population used some form of social media regularly in 2019, highlighting a powerful platform for fostering connections with others. This aspect is particularly beneficial for people with cognitive disabilities (PwCDs) who may experience extreme social isolation. Studies have linked social media use among PwCDs to increased mental well-being and social capital, and PwCDs have reported corresponding increases in self-esteem and social connection. However, research also indicates that usability issues with social media UIs often create barriers that deter participation of PwCDs. In this study, we investigate the usability of five social media apps for PwCDs, with the goal of identifying key UI features that facilitate/impede user performance and experience. The five apps selected for testing were: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Tumblr. Six to eight basic tasks were defined for each app, establishing a usability testing framework designed to compare similar tasks across apps. Nineteen working-age participants diagnosed with mild/moderate cognitive disabilities by their care provider were recruited and tested with each app across five different sessions. Mixed-methods data analysis and source of error analysis were performed for the resultant data. Snapchat and Pinterest were found to have the highest and lowest rates of task failure, respectively, consistent with the participant preference data on satisfaction and perceived usability. The fundamental task types with the highest rate of participant failure across all apps entailed either selecting or creating media, consistent with the identified qualitative theme that PwCDs tend to avoid using more active features in mobile apps due to their higher task complexity. Ten key types of usability issues were identified across all five apps, with the top issues identified as poor icon design and misleading icons, unclear UI hierarchy, lack of UI element separation and contrast, and similar task approaches with very different outcomes.