The Influence of the Interface Button Design of Touch Screens on Operation and Interpretation by Elderly and Middle-Aged Adults

摘要

Body function begins to decline in middle age, with changes becoming increasinglynoticeable over time. With the popularization of educational and information technology, peopleknow more about healthcare and are becoming accustomed to self-testing using health equipment.Technological changes are reflected in products, which present innovations including the switch fromtraditional to touch-controlled interface designs. This can cause difficulties in the interpretation andinterface operation for older adults, who may be facing physiological and psychological alterations.Understanding users’ physiological limitations has become an important aspect of product design.This study explored the effects of physiological limitations on touch-screen operation in middle-agedand elderly people, specifically regarding button type, display position, and button size. A total of64 participants were included in the study: 32 middle-aged people (aged 45–64 years) and 32 elderlypeople (65 years of age and older). Each participant was asked to complete 32 tasks (two buttoncategories × four button sizes × four presentation positions). The results revealed no differencesbetween the elderly and the middle-aged groups with regard to the interpretation of image buttonsand text buttons; however, button size affected the operation and interpretation time. Middle-agedparticipants demonstrated good interpretation performance when the buttons were displayed inthe upper or lower part of the screen, whereas elderly participants only had a good interpretationperformance when the buttons were in the upper part. For both groups, the ideal image button sizewas 16 mm with a text font size of 22.