Iconic interface on the mobile phone for the elderly

Abstract

The iconic interface is a very usable tool and its usefulness is explored for the elderly. Current icons employed on mobile phones were viewed by senior users and categorized into three groups based on the difficulty (identiable, moderate and vague). The selection time of the icons was then examined for three levels of the difficulty and two formats (icon and icon + text). The selection time was observed linearly to be proportional to the degree of the difficulty. Identiable icons need signicantly less performance time than moderate and vague icons. In addition, identiable icons showed robust performance results regardless of the format. Moderate and vague icons are more efficient when the icon is presented with the textual information. Icons should be tested before applied to the mobile device and textual information must be displayed with the icon when the icon is not identiable for the elder users. © ICIC International 2011. © 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.