Ergonomic design of human-computer interfaces for aging users

Abstract

The demographic changes taking place in many industrialized countries and the increased use of information technology in the workplace are creating an urgent need to carefully consider how older users work with computing systems. The changes in perceptual, cognitive and motor skills that often accompany the aging process can have important implications for the design of the human-computer interface. We investigated human-computer interaction exemplarily on the basis of self-developed project management application software for two reasons. First, computer aided project management (CAPM) is important in many manufacturing and service industries; and second, older workers are often responsible for the coordination and controlling of complex projects due to their extensive experience and excellent communication skills.