AGE RELATED DIFFERENCES IN TECHNOLOGICALLY BASED INFORMATION

技术的最新发展和计算机能力的不断扩大使许多人能够直接获得越来越多的信息和服务。对于大多数基于技术的系统来说，一个基本的任务是信息搜索和检索。虽然这一主题在人机交互文献中得到了关注，但关于老年人的可用数据有限。现有数据表明，老年人比年轻人更难使用技术来执行这些类型的任务。本研究项目的目标是调查老年人使用技术来执行信息搜索和检索任务的能力，以便可以开发适应这一人群的界面指南。该项目将调查一系列跨越生活领域（例如家庭，工作）并涉及各种技术的信息搜索和检索任务。最初的研究将集中在基于电话的语音菜单，并将调查与这些类型的系统，如语音速率，韵律重音和菜单结构的设计参数。这项研究还将调查屏幕手机的潜在好处，它结合了联合收割机语音和文本菜单，为老年人。第二组研究将涉及利用万维网搜索信息。将收集关于搜索性能和导航效率的年龄差异的数据。提高性能的策略，如改善用户的心理模型的Web系统和修改界面设计将进行评估。第三组研究将集中在数据库查询任务，这是信息搜索任务通常在工作环境中进行。本研究的目的是评估扩展练习是否可以最大限度地减少这些类型的任务的年龄表现差异，并检查界面设计的变化是否会对表现产生影响。与该中心的其他项目一致，这些研究将研究认知能力和任务绩效之间的关系。从研究中产生的数据将被用作设计指南的输入。

Recent developments in technology and the expanding power of computers have made it possible for large numbers of people to have direct access to an increasingly large array of information and services. One task that is fundamental to most-technology-based systems is information search and retrieval. Although this topic has received attention within the human- computer interaction literature, the available data on older people is limited. The data which is available suggests that older people have more difficult than young people using technology to perform these types of tasks. The goals of this research project are to investigate the ability of older people to use technology to perform information search and retrieval tasks so that interface guidelines can be developed which accommodate this population. The project will investigate a range of information search and retrieval tasks that cut across living domains (e.g. home, work) and involve a variety of technologies. The initial study will focus on telephone-based voice menus and will investigate design parameters associate with these types of systems such as speech rate, prosodic stress, and menu structure. This study will also investigate the potential benefits of screen phones, which combine voice and text menus, for older people. The second set of studies will involve using the World Wide Web to search for information. Data will be gathered on age differences in search performance and navigational efficiency. Strategies for enhance performance such as improve user mental models of Web systems and modifications in interface design will be evaluated. The third set of studies will focus on database inquiry tasks which are information search tasks commonly performed in work settings. The goals of this study are to evaluate if extended practice can minimize age performance differences for these types of tasks, and toe examine if changes to the design of the interface have an impact on performance. Consistent with the other projects in the Center the studies will examine the relationships between cognitive abilities and task performance. The data generated from the research will be used as input to design guidelines.