Table Of Content80555_cover 2/25/09 1:30 PM Page 1
C M Y CM MY CY CMY K
ERGONOMICS AND HUMAN FACTORS Fisk
Rogers
Human Factors
Charness
&
Czaja
Aging Series
Sharit
D
e Designing for
s
Nolan Basher exuding healthy aging near 19,000 feet on his way to the “Roof of Africa.”
i
He summitted Kibo on Kilimanjaro, 19,340 feet, May 29, 2007 at the age of 70. g
n
Older Adults
Designing for Older Adults i
n
g
Second Edition
f Principles and
o
The first edition of Designing for Older Adults: Principles and Creative Human Factors Approaches
r
broke ground as an easily accessible source of information, a primer on designing for older adults. Creative Human Factors
In this second edition, the authors, as any good human factors practitioner would, have considered O
Approaches
comments from readers. They have revised and updated each of the original chapters, rearranged
some of them for a more natural flow, added a new section of tutorials, and provided updated l
d
recommended readings.
e
r Second Edition
New in the Second Edition:
• Two new applications chapters: Transportation and Home Environments A
• New Tutorials section provides more hands-on guidance for critical issues
d
• Re-organization of Design Guidelines section allows for better flow of topics Arthur D. Fisk
u
The new Tutorials section begins by focusing on general issues that need to be considered when l Wendy A. Rogers
t
involving older adults generally in research and usability studies and specifically in focus group
s
studies. It elucidates statistical considerations relevant to user testing with older adults and modeling Neil Charness
approaches such as task analysis, error prediction, and GOMS analysis. Given the prevalence of
S
multimedia in today’s world, the authors include a tutorial on design considerations for multimedia ec Sara J. Czaja
o
products in general but especially for older adults. n
d Joseph Sharit
E
Reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of the field, this multidisciplinary author team translates a
d
vast array of academic literature into guidelines without losing its strong grounding in science. They it
i
discuss the role the field of human factors plays in creating technology that is effective and safe to o
n
use. This book provides information specific enough to be immediately applicable yet general
enough to be relevant to technologies of the future.
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Designing for
Older Adults
Principles and
Creative Human Factors
Approaches
Second Edition
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H u m a n F a c t o r s & A g i n g S e r i e s
Series Editors
Wendy A. Rogers and Arthur D. Fisk
School of Psychology
Georgia Institute of Technology – Atlanta, Georgia
Published Titles
Designing for Older Adults: Principles and Creative Human Factors Approaches,
Second Edition
Arthur D. Fisk, Wendy A. Rogers, Neil Charness, Sara J. Czaja, and Joseph Sharit
Forthcoming Titles
Designing Displays for Older Adults
Richard Pak and Anne Collins McLaughlin
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Designing for
Older Adults
Principles and
Creative Human Factors
Approaches
Second Edition
Arthur D. Fisk
Wendy A. Rogers
Neil Charness
Sara J. Czaja
Joseph Sharit
Boca Raton London New York
CRC Press is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
80555_C000.indd 3 2/25/09 12:38:29 PM
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Version Date: 20141117
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4200-8068-1 (eBook - PDF)
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts
have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume
responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers
have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to
copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has
not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmit-
ted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without written permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.
com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood
Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and
registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC,
a separate system of payment has been arranged.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used
only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
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and the CRC Press Web site at
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CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Dedication
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
We dedicate this book to:
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4200-8055-1 (Hardcover)
The older adults who have inspired us — our parents
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable
efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher can- and grandparents
not assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The
authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced
in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not The participants in our research studies whose invaluable
been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so efforts have helped us to develop these guidelines
we may rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced,
transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copy-
right.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222
Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that pro-
vides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a
photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Designing for older adults : principles and creative human factors approaches /
Arthur D. Fisk ... [et al.]. -- 2nd ed.
p. cm. -- (Human factors & aging series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4200-8055-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Human engineering. 2. Older people. I. Fisk, Arthur D. II. Title. III. Series.
TA166.D485 2009
620.8’2--dc22 2009003837
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the CRC Press Web site at
http://www.crcpress.com
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Contents
Preface to the Second Edition .........................................................................xv
Preface to the First Edition ...........................................................................xvii
About the Authors ..........................................................................................xix
Author Contact Information ..........................................................................xxi
Section 1 Fundamentals
Chapter 1 Toward Better Design for Older Adults .................................3
1.1 Demographics ............................................................................................3
1.2 What Products Do Older Adults Use? ...................................................5
1.3 Is Good Design Worth the Effort? ...........................................................7
1.4 How Do We Define “Older Adult”? .......................................................8
1.5 Toward Better Design ...............................................................................9
1.6 General Guidelines, Specific Questions .................................................9
1.7 Overview of the Book .............................................................................10
Recommended Reading ..................................................................................12
Chapter 2 Characteristics of Older Adult Users ....................................13
2.1 What Are the Underpinnings of Human Factors? .............................13
2.2 What Human Characteristics Should Be Considered? ......................14
2.3 Aging and the Sensory Modalities .......................................................15
2.3.1 Taste and Smell ..........................................................................15
2.3.2 Haptics ........................................................................................16
2.3.3 Audition ......................................................................................17
2.3.4 Vision ...........................................................................................17
2.4 Cognition ..................................................................................................18
2.4.1 Memory .......................................................................................20
2.4.2 Attention .....................................................................................22
2.4.3 Spatial Cognition .......................................................................23
2.4.4 Understanding Written and Spoken Language ....................23
2.5 Control of Movements and Movement Speed ....................................24
2.6 Summary of Review ...............................................................................24
2.7 Guidance for Design ...............................................................................26
Recommended Reading ..................................................................................27
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Chapter 3 Guiding the Design Process ...................................................29
3.1 Principles of Design ................................................................................29
3.2 Universal Design .....................................................................................30
3.3 What Makes a Product Usable? ............................................................31
3.4 Measuring Usability Components ........................................................32
3.5 User-Centered Design (UCD) ................................................................33
3.5.1 Task Analysis ..............................................................................33
3.5.2 Usability Testing ........................................................................35
3.5.2.1 Two Perspectives to Usability Testing ...................35
3.5.2.2 Usability Test Plan ....................................................36
3.5.2.3 Think-Aloud Verbal Protocols ................................37
3.5.2.4 Equipment .................................................................38
3.5.2.5 Participants ................................................................38
3.5.2.6 Pilot Testing and Training ........................................39
3.5.3 Field Observations .....................................................................40
3.5.4 Interviews ...................................................................................41
3.5.5 Questionnaires ...........................................................................41
3.5.6 Focus Groups ..............................................................................42
3.6 Design Methods That Do Not Involve the User .................................42
3.6.1 Checklists and Guidelines ........................................................43
3.6.2 Heuristic Evaluation ..................................................................43
3.6.3 Layout Analysis .........................................................................43
3.7 The Product Design Lifecycle ................................................................44
3.8 Conclusion ...............................................................................................45
Recommended Reading ..................................................................................45
Section 2 Design Guidelines
Chapter 4 Improving Perception of Information ..................................49
4.1 Visual Perception.....................................................................................49
4.1.1 Text Characteristics ....................................................................51
4.1.2 Icons versus Text ........................................................................51
4.1.3 Additional Factors to Consider ................................................52
4.2 Guidelines for Visual Presentation of Information ............................52
4.2.1 General Lighting Guidelines ....................................................52
4.2.2 Text ...............................................................................................53
4.2.3 Use of Three-Dimensional Displays .......................................54
4.3 Issues in Aging and Auditory Perception ...........................................54
4.3.1 Thresholds for Sounds ..............................................................55
4.3.2 Speech Perception ......................................................................55
4.3.3 Localization ................................................................................56
4.4 Guidelines for Auditory Presentation of Information .......................57
4.4.1 Sound ...........................................................................................57
4.4.2 Speech ..........................................................................................57
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