IERC 2012 Paper Formatting Guidelines

Abstract As organizations traverse the demographic shift occurring between retiring employees (Baby Boomers) and members of the younger generation taking their place (Gamers), the two largest issues organizations face are employee retention and knowledge transfer. For repetitive work processes that utilize ruggedized handheld computing tools, both of these issues can be remediated through the adoption of modern technology. Some ruggedized handheld device manufacturers, however, have been hesitant to embrace consumer-implemented solutions such as the removal of all physical keys in order to incorporate touchscreen only input. This hesitation is derived from the fear of the risks that industrial work environments are too destructive for consumer-like features and members of the aging workforce would be too hesitant, unwilling, or unskilled enough to accept a change of this magnitude. Using Baby Boomer and Gamer-aged workers from a large transportation company experienced with ruggedized handheld devices, a time and error evaluation was performed to determine which input type is best by generation. This study will help determine if ruggedized device adoption of touchscreen only input over physical keys is best for aiding the demographic shift