The influence of age in usability testing
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Updated: Apr 4, 2026

Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
Published on: February 14, 2014
Andreas Sonderegger1, Sven Schmutz1, Juergen Sauer1
1Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
Abstract:
The effects of age in usability testing were examined in an experiment. Sixty users from two age groups (M = 23.0 yrs, M = 58.1 yrs) operated two technical devices (keyboard-based and touchscreen-based smartphones). In addition to various performance measures (e.g. task completion time, task completion rate), several subjective measures were taken (e.g. perceived usability, affect, and workload). The results showed better performance scores for younger adults than older adults for task completion time. For older adult users there was a mismatch between usability ratings and task completion time but not between usability ratings and task completion rate. Age-related differences in the importance of speed and accuracy in task completion point to the need to consider more strongly the factor user age in usability research and practice.
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