A Participatory Design and Formal Study Investigation into Mobile Text Entry for Older Adults

Emma Nicol,Mark D Dunlop,Andreas Komninos

doi:10.4018/ijmhci.2016040102.oa

Emma Nicol, Mark D Dunlop + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4018/ijmhci.2016040102.oa

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Abstract

Text entry remains key to many tasks on touchscreen smartphones and is an important factor in the usability of such devices. The known problems of text entry can be particularly acute for older adults due to physical and cognitive issues associated with ageing. In a study of mobile text entry the authors employed a variety of participatory design and formal comparative study techniques in order to explore the requirements of this group of users and to discover the key differences in texting activity between them and younger users of mobile devices. They report on the findings of a lab study of texting behaviour of older adults. The authors' findings indicate differences in attitudes to texting styles and tasks between older and younger adults. They also identify some differences in typing behaviour and reflect on methods.

Highlights

The UK, in line with most of the EU and developed world, has an ageing population: in 1985 15% of the population was over 65 years old
In a study of mobile text entry the authors employed a variety of participatory design and formal comparative study techniques in order to explore the requirements of this group of users and to discover the key differences in texting activity between them and younger users of mobile devices
Taking our lead from that initial study, we began a participatory design process involving older adults recruited from the Centre for Lifelong Learning (CLL) at the University of Strathclyde with a view to generating ideas for novel interfaces and text entry techniques

Summary

Introduction

The UK, in line with most of the EU and developed world, has an ageing population: in 1985 15% of the population was over 65 years old. In an early lab study (Dunlop et al, 2014), we investigated the behaviour of older and younger adults and compared their text entry on a QWERTY keyboard with a half-qwerty keyboard prototype that employed a shake gesture to flick between sides of the keyboard. This prototype keyboard attempted to address the problem of small key sizes while maintaining an unambiguous keyboard. These preliminary studies encouraged us to further investigate input behaviour by older users

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