Digital mobility services have great potential to increase passengers' transportation options, improve their experiences and reduce exclusion. For example, they can facilitate access to information and support, and join transport modes together more seamlessly. However, these advantages will only be available to those who can access and use these services effectively. To facilitate the development of usable and inclusive services, information on the range of potential users' digital interface capabilities, attitudes and current use of digital services is needed. A population-representative survey examining these issues was carried out with 1010 participants in Germany in 2020. As well as self-report questions, it examined basic digital interface competence using simplified paper prototyping. The results are examined in terms of the characteristics of groups that are particularly vulnerable to either digital or transport exclusion. Older people (aged 65+), people with disabilities and people with low levels of education were found to have particularly low levels of digital technology access, use, attitudes and competence. Caution is thus required when rolling out digital mobility services. Non-digital alternatives are needed to ensure an inclusive service. When digital interfaces are used, they need to be designed carefully to be usable by and reassuring to digital novices.

Digital mobility services have great potential to increase passengers' transportation options, improve their experiences and reduce exclusion. However, these advantages are only available to those who can access and use these services effectively. To facilitate the development of inclusive services, information is needed on the range of potential users' technology access, use, attitudes and capabilities. A population-representative survey examining these characteristics was carried out with 1010 participants in Germany in 2020. The results are examined for groups and intersections of groups identified in previous work as particularly vulnerable to either digital or mobility exclusion. Older people, people with disabilities and people with low education levels had particularly low levels of all technology variables. Caution is thus required when rolling out digital mobility services. Non-digital alternatives are needed to ensure an inclusive service and any digital interfaces need to be designed carefully to be usable by and reassuring to digital novices.

Background: Understanding users' digital interface capability is crucial for designing interfaces that they can use effectively. This is particularly relevant when designing for user populations that may include older people, where important digital technologies often have limited uptake. Previous surveys have examined levels of technology access and use across the population, but this is only part of the picture. Objective: This study aims to increase the understanding of how digital interface capability varies across the population. This can help designers to develop more inclusive interfaces, and inform policy makers and other stakeholders in their decisions. Method: A survey was conducted in 2019 with 338 adults across England and Wales. It examined a range of user characteristics including digital technology access, technology experience and attitudes towards technology. Simplified paper prototype testing was used to assess actual performance on common basic interface patterns, such as accessing a drop-down menu and returning to the previous screen via a back arrow. Results: The survey found that technology access, use, attitudes and competence all decline with age. These characteristics all have low levels in older age groups, particularly among those aged 75 and over. In particular, 44% of those aged 75+ got none of the eight basic interface tests correct. Conclusion: It is important not to assume that end users are familiar with digital interfaces and specifically interface patterns, including those in common use today. This is particularly important when designing for target groups that include older people. Particular care should be taken with patterns that are different on smartphones than on laptops, such as bringing up an onscreen keyboard. It is also important to take into account that many older people have low levels of willingness to explore an unfamiliar interface and may need clearer guidance on how to navigate an interface.

Digital inclusion is becoming more important as many consumer products and engineered systems adopt increasingly digital interfaces. The designers of such services often assume that users have a certain level of digital interface competence, but this is not the case for many users. In this paper, we present a set of personas that could help designers to better understand and consider the range of digital expertise across the population. The personas are based on survey data from 338 people across England and Wales in 2019. The survey examined various factors that affect ability to use digital interfaces, including technology experience, attitudes towards technology and competence with basic interface operations. Twelve clusters were identified using K-means cluster analysis, and twelve personas were developed based on these. The personas help to bring to life the range of digital expertise and highlight people at risk of digital exclusion. In addition, the cluster sizes indicate the proportion of the population represented by each persona and thus the scale of potential digital exclusion.

Substrates for neuron culture and implantation are required to be both biocompatible and display surface compositions that support cell attachment, growth, differentiation, and neural activity. Laminin, a naturally occurring extracellular matrix protein is the most widely used substrate for neuron culture and fulfills some of these requirements, however, it is expensive, unstable (compared to synthetic materials), and prone to batch-to-batch variation. This study uses a high-throughput polymer screening approach to identify synthetic polymers that supports the in vitro culture of primary mouse cerebellar neurons. This allows the identification of materials that enable primary cell attachment with high viability even under “serum-free” conditions, with materials that support both primary cells and neural progenitor cell attachment with high levels of neuronal biomarker expression, while promoting progenitor cell maturation to neurons.