How do older adults process icons during a navigation task? Effects of aging, semantic distance, and text label

Abstract

ABSTRACT Icons are intended to provide meaning and to allow users to interact with touchscreen and mobile systems. As users of these systems include older people, the present study focused on the effect of aging on the interpretation and use of icons during a navigational task. An experiment on a touchscreen tablet was conducted to determine the effects of interface type (icon, text label, or a combination of the two) and semantic distance (close vs. far) on the navigation activity of older versus younger users. Results showed that older users needed more time to select icons, specifically when the semantic distance was far. By contrast, younger users control their activity more frequently. No significant differences were found between the two groups on the number of correct responses. These results provide pointers for icon designers and open up further research avenues on this topic. In particular, it seems important to take user profiles into account when designing icons. We describe an ergonomic method based on user experience to capture users’ mental representations of a given concept depending on their age.