Enhancing typing performance of older adults on tablets

Abstract

Touch screen interfaces are increasingly more popular. However, they lack haptic feedback, making it harder to perform certain tasks, such as text entry, where users have to constantly select one of many small targets. This problem particularly affects older users, whose deteriorating physical and cognitive conditions, combined with their unfamiliarity with technology, can discourage them from using touch devices. The goal of this work was to thoroughly understand older adults touch typing behavior, in order to develop text-entry solutions more appropriate to their needs, which will enhance their typing performance. On a first phase, a baseline QWERTY keyboard and five different variants were developed that mostly used a text prediction algorithm to suggest the most probable keys or words. These keyboards were evaluated on a baseline study with 20 younger adults in order to find the most promising ones, which were then used in a study with 20 older adults. The older adults study revealed more about their typing behavior and therefore created four new variants to be used in a simulation study. Results show that visual changes should be kept to a minimum; touch points should be shifted upward and to the opposite side of the hand used to type; single touch keyboards perform better than multi-touch; and omitting keys below a certain time threshold minimizes accidental insertions.