of e-mail use in terms of social circles; frequency, type of content and patterns of communication; relationship with other technologies and activities; motivation and interactive experiences. Within this context of everyday use, we uncover and explain the (relative) importance of several interaction barriers, such as cognitive load, difficulties using input devices and perception of visual information. We claim that cognitive difficulties are much more relevant than difficulties in reading from the screen, for instance, so challenging results of current HCI research with older people. We show and discuss some implications for designing better e-mail systems (and interactive technologies) for older people.