An Empirical Investigation of Age-related Performance in Computer Interface Tasks

As the computer and internet generations age there is an increasing need to develop appropriate interfaces for the elderly that can accommodate age-related changes in manual dexterity, visual acuity, and cognitive abilities. Assessment of age-related effects is typically a necessary first step in designing age-appropriate interfaces, but may be complicated in how the tradeoff between speed and accuracy is handled by different people. In order to assess the impact of a possible speed-accuracy tradeoff, performance was observed under three different instructional sets i.e., accuracy (A), neutral (N), and speed (S) when steering on a circular track. The elderly group performed significantly less accurately for all three instruction sets. The younger subjects were more influenced by instructions to perform faster, or with more accuracy. Implications for user interface design for older users, and for the evaluation of age effects in HCI generally, are discussed.