Sol Hee Yoon

A Study of Pointing Performance of Elderly Users on Smartphones

The number of global smartphone users is rapidly increasing. However, the proportion of elderly persons using smartphones is lower than that of other age groups because they feel it is difficult to use touch screens. There have only been a few studies about usability and elderly smartphone users or designs for them. Based on this background, we studied the pointing action of elderly users, which is a basic skill required to use touch screens on smartphones. We reviewed previous works to determine specific research methods and categorized them into three groups: (a) effect of target size and spacing on touch screen pointing performance, (b) effect of age on pointing performance, and (c) feedback of touch screens. To investigate the touch screen pointing performance of elderly, we conducted two experiments. In the first experiment, 3 target sizes (5 mm, 8 mm, and 12 mm) and 2 target spacings (1 mm, 3 mm) were evaluated. Adding to that, we analyzed whether touch screen pointing performance is dependent on the location of the target. In the second experiment, 3 types of feedback (auditory, tactile, and audiotactile) were evaluated. The results show that (a) pointing performance of elderly was significantly influenced by size, spacing, and location of target, and (b) the performance was higher in audiotactile feedback condition. We expected that these results can contribute to the design of smartphone applications for elderly users.

Perceived Visual Complexity and Visual Search Performance of Automotive Instrument Cluster: A Quantitative Measurement Study

Advancements in technology have spurred the development of new in-vehicle applications. Drivers are faced with different driving contexts due to an increase in the number of devices that provide a wealth of diverse information. However, such a scenario can cause drivers to become distracted. Therefore, research on how the presentation of visual information can affect drivers’ performance is important. In this study, an analysis of quantifiable measurements that affect drivers’ perception of visual complexity and visual search performance was conducted. A questionnaire was administered to assess subjective perception of visual complexity, and a user experiment using eye tracking was designed to explore participants’ visual search performance. The results of subjective visual complexity perception and visual search performance suggested that some objective measurement variables were significantly related only to perceived visual complexity, whereas others affected both subjective and behavioral measurements. Thus it is possible to predict which quantifiable measurement variables affect subjective perception of visual complexity and which affect visual search performance. Therefore, this study allows understanding and explaining of perception of visual complexity by quantifiable measurements and the different ways by which these measurements affect visual search performance.

Assessment model for perceived visual complexity of automotive instrument cluster

This research proposes an assessment model for quantifying the perceived visual complexity (PVC) of an in-vehicle instrument cluster. An initial study was conducted to investigate the possibility of evaluating the PVC of an in-vehicle instrument cluster by estimating and analyzing the complexity of its individual components. However, this approach was only partially successful, because it did not take into account the combination of the different components with random levels of complexity to form one visual display. Therefore, a second study was conducted focusing on the effect of combining the different components. The results from the overall research enabled us to suggest a basis for quantifying the PVC of an in-vehicle instrument cluster based both on the PVCs of its components and on the integration effect.

Development of a User Experience Evaluation Framework for Wearable Devices

Wearable devices such as smartwatch, tracker, and head-mounted display devices are commonly used along with the advance of IT. Users face novel user experiences owing to the “wearing” nature of wearable devices. However, until now there is no framework to assess the overall UX of a wearable device. Therefore, the objective of this study is to provide a systematic framework that assist in the evaluation and design of wearable devices. In this study, a framework was presented consisting of design space, evaluation factors, and context of use. It could classify each area into several subcategories based on the previous research. We carried out a case study of expert evaluation and user evaluation to investigate the applicability of the framework. For two types of wearable devices, HMD and smartwatch, the experts evaluated the correlation between the design spaces and the evaluating factors. Users also assessed the association between the two areas through questionnaires. Results showed that relation in between design space and evaluation factors alter by varying products. Although there are limitations on the number of subjects and UX factors, this study has significance in that it enables quick and systematic evaluation of wearable devices.

Deriving future user experiences in autonomous vehicle

Autonomous vehicle will change the user behavior completely; therefore, needs for exploring the users future experience in the autonomous environment are required. The objective of our study is to explore the direction of design of autonomous vehicle full-windshield display in the future. This paper applied user research tool for understanding future user experience in autonomous vehicle and deriving the underlying issues for the autonomous vehicle User Interface (UI). Our tool starts with generating future activity pool, giving shape to the idea, and helping participants develop concrete design concepts and producing the prototype. This paper describes general design issues aroused in user research, which concentrates on different attitudes of drivers and fellow passengers in autonomous vehicles.

Conceptual Framework for Affective and Cognitive Product Design

In this study, we proposed a conceptual framework of affective and cognitive design based on human-product interaction. Then a systematic approach based on the proposed conceptual framework is presented for the development of an assistive system for designers to gather information and data on how to design new affective and cognitive products. This research can be considered particularly important as it can be extendable to a broad variety of industry and concentrate in aspects of the product from the individual element level.