An Empirical Study for Age-Inclusive Kiosk Design: Impacts of Visual–Auditory Information and Assistance Function

Objective: This study aims to improve kiosk usability for younger and older adults by conducting three tasks under different conditions of information presentation and assistance function availability and analyzing the results.Background: The increasing prevalence of kiosks in contactless environments following the COVID-19 pandemic has improved efficiency but also revealed usability barriers for older adults. While previous research has explored older adults in kiosk, most studies have been confined to single and specific service contexts (fast food kiosk or café kiosk) or focused only on visual interfaces. This study addresses these limits by including various service types and defining modality conditions that combined information presentation and assistance function availability.Method: Forty participants (20 younger adults, 19~34; 20 older adults, ≥65) completed 12 trials combining three kiosk tasks (civil affair documents machines, fast-food kiosk, and ATM) with four modality conditions defined by information presentation (visual only vs. visual and auditory) and assistance function (off vs. on). Outcomes about usability included completion time, error count, and subjective workload (NASA-TLX). We conducted independent-samples t-tests for the current kiosk (visual-only, no assistance) and a two-way mixed ANOVA with Age (between) × Modality (within).Results: Across tasks, older adults showed longer completion times, higher error counts, and greater perceived workload than younger adults. In main effects of age, older adults showed higher completion times, error counts, and effort scores than younger adults across all tasks. Main effects in modality were limited overall; however, in the civil affair documents machines and ATM tasks, visual and auditory presentation tended to decrease workload relative to visual-only. Interaction effects of age and modality was significant for frustration in the fast-food kiosk task and for effort in the ATM task.Conclusion: The findings confirm that multimodal information presentation and assistance function can alleviate cognitive demands and improve accuracy, particularly for older users. These results emphasize the need for interface designs that accommodate age-related perceptual and cognitive features.Application: This study provides empirical evidence supporting the design of inclusive self-service systems. Integrating visual–auditory information presentation and assistance function can enhance accessibility and reduce errors for younger and older adults, contributing to more equitable and user-centered service environments.