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Barriers of Information Access in Small Screen Device Applications: The Relevance of User Characteristics for a Transgenerational Design

  • Conference paper
Universal Access in Ambient Intelligence Environments

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 4397))

Abstract

The proliferation of ubiquitous computing is accompanied by the development of devices, which promise to facilitate the daily living activities of people. However, the question if mobile devices address the usability demands of older users is still unsettled. This paper reports the findings of a series of studies that examined the performance of younger and older adults when using personal data management software applications of a PDA. In order to learn about the ageing impact, the influence of user characteristics like spatial and memory abilities, the subjective technical confidence and computer-expertise on performance outcomes were analysed. Beyond quantitative performance measurements, the major shortcomings in interface design were identified. Results showed that older users reached lower performance outcomes. Even young adults did not reach a perfect performance level, hinting again at shortcomings in the design of PDA applications. Overall, the findings demonstrate the need to include user characteristics in interface design.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychologie, RWTH Aachen University, Jägerstr. 17-19, 52066 Aachen, Germany

    Katrin Arning & Martina Ziefle

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  1. Katrin Arning
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  2. Martina Ziefle
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Constantine Stephanidis Michael Pieper

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© 2007 Springer Berlin Heidelberg

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Arning, K., Ziefle, M. (2007). Barriers of Information Access in Small Screen Device Applications: The Relevance of User Characteristics for a Transgenerational Design. In: Stephanidis, C., Pieper, M. (eds) Universal Access in Ambient Intelligence Environments. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4397. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71025-7_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71025-7_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-71024-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-71025-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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