Sherry E. Mead

Effects of age and training on World Wide Web navigation strategies

The present study examined the effects of age and type of training on efficiency and preferences in a World Wide Web search activity. Older and younger participants received a hands-on Web navigation tutorial or a verbal description of available navigation tools. Participants then searched a 19-page Web site for the answers to nine questions. Older participants were able to complete most of the nine search tasks, but followed more links and scrolled more pages to find the required information than did younger adults. Factors in this inefficiency were patterns of returning to the home page while searching and revisiting previously viewed pages during a single task. Hands-on training was associated with increased use of the more efficient navigation tools. Older adults, especially those who received hands-on training, were more likely to use the “site map” and “index tabs” than were younger adults. Implications for training and Web site design are discussed.

Measuring Skill Acquisition and Retention with an ATM Simulator: The Need for Age-Specific Training

The present study focused on the type of information presented during training and its effects on initial and retention performance of older and younger adults interacting with computerized, new technology. The effects of emphasizing concepts versus actions during training on performance immediately after training and after a 1-month retention interval were examined. Younger and older adults completed either action or concept training for operating a virtual automatic teller machine (ATM). Overall, action training was associated with faster and more accurate performance immediately after training and better retention performance for older adults. For older adults, value of type of training interacted with type of task component. These findings are applicable to the development of age-specific training materials for computerized tasks.

Influences of general computer experience and age on library database search performance

Two experiments examined the effects of general computer experience and age on library system search performance among novice library system users. Twenty younger adults (10 with high and 10 with low computer experience) and 20 older adults (10 with low and 10 with no computer experience) performed 10 search tasks of varying difficulty. Search success, syntax errors, database field specifications, keyword specifications, and use of Boolean operators were examined. Among younger novices, high computer experience was associated with slightly better performance than low computer experience. Among older novices, having some computer experience was associated with much better performance than no computer experience. Older computer users showed lower overall success rates, made more syntax and field specification errors, and demonstrated poorer understanding of Boolean logic and keyword matching algorithms than younger adults with similar computer experience. Implications for interface design and training interventions for novice on-line library system users are discussed.

Application of Cognitive Theory to Training and Design Solutions for Age-related Computer Use

As the prevalence of computer-based technologies increases throughout society, so does the likelihood that older adults will be required to interact with them. Unfortunately, such systems often appear to older adults to be too hard to use and too hard to learn. We provide examples highlighting the opportunities available to behavioural science to affect training and system design through practically relevant research. We focus on our research on ageing, computer use, and training to support our assertion that applied research aimed at designing training materials and system interfaces to enhance the performance of older adults can and should be driven by psychological theory. The data presented and studies reviewed here clearly demonstrate that theory is critical for predicting age differences in computer use, for guiding the development of both training and design interventions for older computer users, and for reconciling conflicting findings in the design-evaluation literature.

Age group differences in world wide web navigation

In this study, we examined the effects of age and training on efficiency and preferences in a World Wide Web search activity. Older participants were able to complete most of the tasks, but took more steps to find the information than did younger adults. Factors in this inefficiency were patterns of returning to the home page and revisiting pages that had been seen before during a search. Interactive training improved efficiency and altered preferences. We discuss implications for training and design.

Assessing the usability of on-line library systems

Computer-based library systems are becoming pervasive throughout public and university libraries. The purpose of the present study was to survey the users of a representative system to assess the degree to which they used the systems functionality, their difficulties with the system, and their experiences learning the system. The majority of the 966 users of the system made limited use of the more advanced system commands and had difficulty understanding how the system works. Importantly, many of the users reported remotely accessing the system, which has implications for the development of training and help systems. The data from the survey are interpreted in the context of suggestions for design and training improvements for library on-line systems.

Making technology accessible for older users

Beth Meyer, Sherry E. Mead Wendy A. Rogers Matthias Schneider-Hufschmidt School of Psychology Dept. of Psychology Siemens AG, PN KE TI 3 Georgia Institute of Technology The University of Georgia D-S 1359 Muenchen Atlanta GA 30332-0170 USA Athens, GA 30602-3013 Fed. Rep. of Germany +1404 894 8344 +17065423115 +49-89-722-2 1906 {gt9020a, sm96}@prism.gatech.edu wrogers@uga.cc.uga.edu msch@pn.siemens.de

Online Library Catalogs: Age-Related Differences in Query Construction and Error Recovery

Online library catalogs have become pervasive in todays library. Unfortunately, these systems have been developed by computer programmers or librarians with little analysis of user behavior on the system. The present study compared the search performance of younger and older adults with general computer experience who were novice online catalog users on a set of ten search tasks of varying difficulty. This study examined types of errors made by novice users in database query construction and subsequent error recovery. Younger adults achieved a higher overall success rate than did older adults and were more efficient in performing these searches. Older adults made more query construction errors and recovered from them less efficiently than did younger adults. These data have important implications for identifying the specific needs, limitations, and capabilities of online library catalog users and the design of online library catalog systems for adults of differing ages.

Training New Technology: Automatic Teller Machines and Older Adults:

The purpose of the present study was to assess the benefits of providing on-line training for an automatic teller machine (ATM). An ATM simulator was developed for the study, and older adults (65-80) served as the subjects. Subjects were assigned to one of two conditions. Half of the subjects were given a written description of how the ATM worked. The other half went through an on-line tutorial, which showed them how to perform transactions on the simulator. After performing 30 transactions on the simulator, subjects were transferred to a new ATM simulator that was topographically different. The subjects who received the on-line tutorial performed more transactions correctly during acquisition, and were better able to transfer their skills to a different ATM simulator and to novel transactions.

Effects of Matching Cognitive and Perceptual-Motor Training to Task Components on Complex Task Performance by Older and Younger Adults

The present study investigated the type of information that should be presented during training in order to maximize the performance of older and younger adults on complex, realistic tasks. This study compares the effects of emphasizing concepts or actions during training on both immediate performance and performance after a one-month delay. Participants completed one of two tutorials for operating a computer-simulated automatic teller machine. One tutorial presented conceptual information at each system state (Concept Training). The other indicated the target object on-screen and required activation of the correct ATM simulator control (Action Training). Participants performed 20 transactions following training and 20 transactions following a one-month retention interval. Older Action trainees showed higher accuracy on perceptual-motor task components than did older Concept trainees. Older Concept trainees showed higher accuracy on cognitive task components than did older Action trainees. Younger adults showed no training group differences. Results suggest that matching type of training to task components may be especially important for older adults and that qualitatively different recommendations may result from testing older and younger adults.