高龄用户心智模型与智能手持设备界面设计匹配度研究

Population is ageing rapidly, but limited social resources could not guarantee that all the older adults are well supported. Information technology products could alleviate this problem. Among various products, smart handheld devices (represented by smart phones and tablets) have the prospect of wide application. However, older adults have tremendous difficulties in using smart handheld devices, and many of these difficulties could not be solved solely by measures at the perception level or at the response level, and the key is to deal with older adults’wrong cognitive process about how smart handheld devices work. This calls for in-depth exploration of older adults’ cognitive process, and investigating mental models is an effective way to achieve this goal. Therefore, this study will first investigate older adults’mental models of smart handheld devices and compare with those of younger adults to construct a model of mental model differences. Based on that, this study will further dig into the underlying mechanism for mental model differences. Then, this study will propose and validate quantitative methods to measure the degree of match between mental models and interface design. Finally, interface design of smart handheld devices will be theoretically and practically guided by the model of mental model differences and corresponding underlying mechanism as well as the quantitative measures of the degree of match. The results of this study will enhance user experience of older adults and younger adults, which will particularly improve older adults’quality of life and increase their involvement in the information society.

信息科技产品可以缓解人口快速老龄化给资源有限的社会带来的压力。在众多科技产品中，以智能手机和平板电脑为代表的智能手持设备具有广阔的应用前景。然而，高龄用户使用现有智能手持设备时遇到诸多问题，其中很多问题单凭感知层面和反应层面的措施难以解决，关键在于纠正高龄用户对智能手持设备运行机制的错误认知，这便需要深入探索高龄用户的认知过程。研究心智模型正是探索认知过程的有效途径，因此本课题将首先研究高龄用户使用智能手持设备的心智模型，并将其与年轻用户进行对比研究，以构建心智模型差异模型。在此基础上，本课题将进一步解析心智模型存在差异的深层机理，然后提出和验证衡量心智模型与用户界面匹配度的定量方法。最后，本课题将以心智模型差异模型和差异机理为理论依据，以心智模型与界面设计匹配度为实践准则，指导智能手持设备界面设计，提升年轻用户和高龄用户的交互体验，最终有助于提升高龄用户的生活水平和在信息社会的参与度。

信息科技产品可以缓解人口快速老龄化给资源有限的社会带来的压力。在众多科技产品中，以智能手机和平板电脑为代表的智能手持设备具有广阔的应用前景。然而，高龄用户使用现有智能手持设备时遇到诸多问题，其中很多问题单凭感知层面和反应层面的措施难以解决，关键在于纠正高龄用户对智能手持设备运行机制的错误认知，这便需要深入探索高龄用户的认知过程。研究心智模型正是探索认知过程的有效途径，因此本课题首先研究高龄用户使用智能手持设备的心智模型，并将其与年轻用户进行对比研究，识别差异并进一步解析心智模型存在差异的深层原因。研究发现在智能手持设备时，年轻用户与高龄用户构建的心智模型确实存在显著差异。然而，年龄只是导致差异的表面原因，心智模型差异受用户特征（如认知能力和使用经验）、手持设备界面设计（如导航结构和信息密度）和交互环境的共同影响。本课题提出和验证衡量心智模型与用户界面匹配度的方法，为从业者提供了客观的定量依据，有望改变在评判产品是否对用户友好时主要依靠设计者主观感受进行判断而无据可依的状况。最后，本课题以心智模型差异模型和差异机理为理论依据，以心智模型与界面设计匹配度为实践准则，指导云端沟通系统Easy-One Communicator、语音机器人助手原型、智能手表导航辅助工具等界面设计，在实验中显著提升了年轻用户和高龄用户的交互体验，有望提升高龄用户的生活水平和在信息社会的参与度。