Usability Evaluation of Text Input Methods for Smartphone among the Elderly

Abstract

In this paper, we compare the usability of the smart phone character input methods employed by elderly users. (On the basis of the results obtained we plan to propose a new character input method for smart phones.) Recent smart phones are being targeted at elderly people and children, as well as young people, thus, the smart phone target demographic has widened to include many different types of customers. In Japan, four main smart phone character input methods are currently in use: "QWERTY," "Mobile," "Flick type," and "Flowers touch." The most basic character input method is the "QWERTY," which uses the same pattern as a keyboard. The input method called the "Mobile," in which the same key is used to enter several characters based on the number of key presses, is similar to that used by feature phones. In the third input method, called the "Flick type," a key is first touched and flicked by a finger in the assigned direction. In the fourth input method, the "Flowers touch," candidates are shown in the form of a flower petal around the key that was touched. We evaluated these four input methods to determine which method is the best usability method for elderly people by conducting an experiment in which Japanese characters and English characters are typed using each character input method. We also conducted interviews before and after the typing experiment. After the typing experiment, a subjective evaluation of usability and additional comments were obtained. The results indicated that elderly people had various kinds of problems. We plan to conduct the same experiment using young people and to subsequently develop a new character input method that takes these problems into consideration.