The Use of Older Adults on Preference Panels: Evidence From the Kentucky Interface Preference Inventory

Evidence for an Elders' Advantage in the Naive Product Usability Judgments of Older and Younger Adults

“…However, Hancock, Fisk, and Rogers (2001) found evidence that older users were certainly aware of usability difficulties they experienced when interacting with consumer products. Stephens, Carswell, and Dallaire (2000) found, on a questionnairebased study of interface preferences, that older adults were more likely to take task and environmental contexts into account when selecting their preferred interface designs. This may be taken as indirect evidence of an increased sensitivity to usability concerns.…”

How Knowledgeable are Salespeople About the Usability of Their Merchandise?

“…The purpose of the present study was to determine exactly what sorts of information a sample of salespeople provided for four wideranging types of consumer products -cell phones, dryers, recliners, and jewelry. Because older consumers may be more concerned about usability than younger consumers (e.g., Nayak, 1995;Stephens, Carswell, and Dallaire, 2000), we specifically asked sales representatives to tell us about products they believed to be easy to use for this population. Framing the question this way also had the advantage or directing respondents, in most cases, to consider people other than themselves and to consider specific types of limitations.…”