Age group differences in performance using distinct input modalities: a target acquisition performance evaluation

The traditional attitude towards user interfaces has changed. The Post-WIMP era has brought about novel input modalities such as touch, tangibles or gestures that allow users to manipulate digital contents more intuitively. These novel input modalities make use of the users' innate skills instead of imposing the learning of new interaction techniques. Nonetheless, there has not been a systematic evaluation on how, or if, these interfaces influence the users' performance and/or preference: distinct interfaces may be more or less appropriate regarding different age groups, user profiles, contexts or type of tasks. This work is a preliminary evaluation on whether the users' efficiency is indeed influenced by different input modalities or age. We conducted a target acquisition performance evaluation with 60 subjects to understand how different input modalities influence the speed and accuracy of three specific age groups (children, young adults and older-adults) when dealing with a continuous selection task. Three input modalities were considered to perform the task (mouse, touch and gestures) and the methodology was based on Fitts' law, a target acquisition performance evaluation model. Overall, when comparing movement times amongst the three groups, there are significant differences between age groups regarding the index of performance. We believe our findings may show that indeed the type of input modality used and the user's age could affect one's performance.