How younger and older adults master the usage of hyperlinks in small screen devices

In this paper we describe an experiment, in which we examined older and younger adults when interacting with a simulated PDA (personal digital assistant). Independent variables were users' age (young vs. older) and device interface (hyperlink vs. no hyperlink). Dependent variables were the effectiveness and efficiency of menu navigation. To understand how user characteristics influence performance, spatial ability, verbal memory, computer expertise and technical self-confidence were determined. Technology experienced young and older adults (benchmark testing) took part. They had to solve four tasks either with hyperlink interface or without hyperlinks in the interface. The method to collect, to automatically analyze and to structure the data according to interaction sequences and presumed user intentions is a novel approach supported by the open source software tool Clever 12. The tool is briefly described; more details can be found in 23. Results revealed that hyperlink interfaces showed overall higher effectiveness. However, the impact of hyperlinks for efficiency was age-related. Younger adults strongly benefit from having hyperlinks. The contrary was the case for older adults, who showed higher menu disorientation when using hyperlinks.