Eye-Tracking Evaluation of Age-Related Differences in User Behaviour on Mobile Applications

Abstract

India is placed as fastest growing countries in the world. In response to the rapid population growth, it is essential to understand the factors affecting ageing population in human-computer interaction (HCI). The usage of smartphones and tablet devices have been increasing rapidly with multi-touch interaction and powerful configuration. Though number of research studies done to analyze user behaviour, they are not adequately focused on aging population as potential users. In India, majority of the smartphone users never used older technologies and they are directly exposed to newer technologies and interfaces. In this context, we have conducted eye-tracking study with 50 participants between the age of 20 to 60 above and living in Bangalore, India. The inclusion criteria followed in our study include literacy and android phone users. The study aims at age-related differences in user behaviour while performing tasks on mobile applications. The study consists of five tasks to be performed on the android phone under naturalistic scenarios by each participant, wearing eye tracking glasses. The activities were recorded for each participant all five tasks. The results our study show differences in the information search behaviours among different age groups. Also, we noted that the tasks that were familiar to aging participants reported better performance and unfamiliar tasks were perceived as complex and unsuccessful.