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this is a topic i've been heavily involved with because i still consider myself to be someone who prefers using technology at a very beginner friendly level, plus it's very good when a linux operating system makes you feel right at home when it has a modern desktop environment. this is why i really like gnome, its simplicity and usability is something available for everyone, for beginners and for a lot of other people, but if you had to, say, rearrange xfce or kde for someone who was an elderly person or an absolute beginner so that they wouldn't have any trouble using linux, how would you do it? (screenshot is my current linux mint desktop, very simple and extremely user friendly!!!!)
Remember the "Jitterbug" mobile phone made specifically for older users?
Kindof in the spirit of that.
Don't hide things in a "start menu" or anything like that. No task bar. Just put a small number of big icons on the "desktop". Open all applications in fullscreen. Don't allow two applications to run at the same time. Optimally, the browser wouldn't be as general-purpose as Firefox or Chromium or whatever. No address bar. Just links to a few bookmarked sites. In fact, no home page on the browser would be good. Just make the websites they have available to go to more icons on the GUI's main desktop. Don't make them right-click for anything, only left-click. But make it easy for people's family to get at the guts, including remotely, to customize the experience for the intended user.