Interaction Devices and Web Design for Novice Older Users

This study investigated the effects of interaction devices on the Internet performance of novice older users, and ways to provide appropriate voice assistance to enhance browsing and searching performance of such users. Three experiments were designed and conducted to test three hypotheses. The results indicated that touch screen and handwriting recognition are better than mouse and keyboard in browsing time in the third trial. Touch screen was also found to be better in terms of performance time for keyword search tasks than mouse and voice input in the second trial, and is better in terms of user error for keyword search tasks than mouse and voice input in the first trial. Learning effects were found for using touch screen and handwriting recognition, and mouse and keyboard for browsing and searching tasks. Furthermore, voice-menu assistance was associated with higher satisfaction for browsing tasks. Notes The authors express gratitude to the National Science Council in Taiwan (NSC90-2218-E-033-011) for their support.