Combining Subjective Perceptions and Objective Behavioral Metrics With the Elderly Digital Twin System: Quantitative...

The growing aging population has increased the need for technologies that support informal caregivers in home-based older adult care. Digital twin (DT) systems offer promising capabilities; yet, their effectiveness depends on usability, an aspect still insufficiently evaluated among caregivers.

This study aimed to assess the usability of an older adult care DT system using a dual-method evaluation that integrates subjective and objective behavioral performance.

Fifty caregivers participated in a usability assessment combining the System Usability Scale (SUS) and detailed system activity log analytics. Log-based measures included task completion, time on task, errors, and abandonment rate. A composite user engagement score was computed and analyzed for correlation and predictive association with SUS ratings. Engagement clusters were also explored.

Caregivers reported an excellent mean SUS score of 80.45. System logs showed a 94.08% task completion rate, 2.66% abandonment, and an average task duration of 89.16 seconds. User engagement score demonstrated significant correlations with SUS (r=0.626, ρ=0.552; P<.001) and significantly predicted usability in regression analysis (β=52.94, R²=0.392; P<.001). Engagement-based clustering identified high-, medium-, and low-tier user groups, each exhibiting distinct usability patterns.

Integrating subjective usability ratings with objective behavioral metrics provides a rigorous and comprehensive approach to evaluating DT systems for older adult care. The findings highlight strong usability of the system and offer actionable insights for refining caregiver support technologies.