Save
Email
Print
ShareScienceDaily (Mar. 31, 2008) — How can pensioners (retired people) with little if any computer skills successfully cope with a digital information system? According to Dutch researcher Henk Herman Nap, the design of an accessible system needs to incorporate large letter types and keys, the mother language, and a touch screen and ABCDE keyboard as input devices.
Furthermore, positive feedback is important to reduce the stress experienced by pensioners whilst using the computer.
All age groups are making increasing use of the Internet but in terms of skills, pensioners continue to lag behind the younger generations. Therefore the design of an accessible system must give due consideration to the skills and capabilities of pensioners.
Yet if pensioners are to work with digital information systems in a successful and pleasant manner, they must also experience little stress. Nap has analysed if the complexity of a system and the expected performance of pensioners exert an influence on acute stress.
The study revealed that the stress experienced increases if pensioners receive negative performance feedback and decreases if they receive positive performance feedback. However, the complexity of a system does not affect the stress experienced, although it does exert an influence on the expectations pensioners have about their future task performance and the efficiency and effectiveness with which tasks are performed.
Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:
Other bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
more 
