Designing Interfaces for Older Users: Effects of Icon Detail and Semantic Distance

Older users are increasingly using digital means (especially the Internet and mobile devices) for work and leisure. Yet, until recently, researchers have not paid sufficient attention to how one can adapt the human-computer interface to older users. In this paper, we propose an approach to adapting interfaces to older users that is based on the knowledge of design and knowledge of age-related capabilities and needs. We concentrate on icons, which are perhaps the most common means of controlling human-computer interaction. First, we determined age-related cognitive impairments that might affect icon identification and selected two icon attributes that we could adapt to overcome performance degradation. We then conducted an experiment to test the hypothesized differences between young and old adults in terms of the impact of icon design on user performance. The two attributes of icon design were level of detail in the icon (i.e., the number of elements that constitute the icon) and its semantic distance (i.e., the distance between the meaning of the icon and function it represents). We found that both attributes affected the performance of older users more strongly than they did young users except for an extreme case in which the negative impact on young users when adapting for older users was devastating. We believe that these results demonstrate that adaptation of icons for older users is desirable and feasible but must be done with caution. We need more research to determine the nuances and limitations of adaptation to understand the adaptation of other design attributes by going beyond the cognitive aspects to the physical, affective, and social aspects of human computer interaction

Children's interactions with interactive toy technology

Abstract Digital toys offer the opportunity to explore software scaffolding through tangible interfaces that are not bound to the desktop computer. This paper describes the empirical work completed by the CACHET (Computers and Children's Electronic Toys) project team investigating young children's use of interactive toy technology. The interactive toys in question are plush and cuddly cartoon characters with embedded sensors that can be squeezed to evoke spoken feedback from the toy. In addition to playing with the toy as it stands, the toy can be linked to a desktop PC with compatible software using a wireless radio connection. Once this connection is made the toy offers hints and tips to the children as they play with the accompanying software games. If the toy is absent, the same hints and tips are available through an on-screen animated icon of the toy's cartoon character. The toys as they stand are not impressive as collaborative learning partners, as their help repertoire is inadequate and even inappropriate. However, the technology has potential: children can master the multiple interfaces of toy and screen and, when the task requires it and the help provided is appropriate, they will both seek and use it. In particular, the cuddly interface experience can offer an advantage and the potential for fun interfaces that might address both the affective and the effective dimensions of learners' interactions

Recognition of animated icons by elementary‐aged children

This paper describes a study to investigate the recognizability of and preference for animated icons by elementary‐aged aged children. Fourteen typical computer‐related tasks (e.g., copy, move) were viewed by 60 school‐children in two iconic formats: animated and static. The content of the icons and the computer process or action they mimicked were drawn from a previous study in which a similar group of children was asked to depict gesturally their interpretation of the 14 tasks. Results indicated that the animated version of the icons was more recognizable and that the children greatly preferred the animated icons over the static icons. Implications for the design of enhanced user‐interfaces for children are noted

An evaluation of earcons for use in auditory human-computer interfaces

An evaluation of earcons was carried out to seee whether they are an effective means of communicating information in sound. An initial experiment showed that earcons were better than unstructured bursts of sound and that musical timbres were more effective than simple tones. A second experiment was then carried out which improved upon some of the weaknesses shown up in Experiment 1 to give a significant improvement in recognition. From the results of these experiments some guidelines were drawn up for use in the creation of earcons. Earcons have been shown to be an effective method for communicating information in a human-computer interface