A Contextualization Feature to Overcome Intergenerational Language Barriers in Communication Apps

We address existing intergenerational gaps in use of technology and in digital language, and their potential negative consequences for the well-being of older-aged adults. We describe a new contextualization feature which we designed as an addition to existing instant-messaging systems, to overcome misunderstandings and communication breakdowns during synchronic message exchanges. In the current work we focus on intergenerational language gaps within families, but our feature would be beneficial for bridging language gaps between communicators in many different environments (e.g. between employees who use different professional jargons, people from different nationalities and cultures, and so on). We designed a prototype user interface for the feature and demonstrate it in the context of the WhatsApp messaging app.